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The Arts Intel Report

Erika Verzutti: The Life of Sculptures

Erika Verzutti, Venus com Espatula, 2013.

June 30 – Sept 30, 2024
33 Avenue Victor Hugo, 13200 Arles, France

The name Erika Verzutti may sound Italian, but the multi-media artist was born in São Paulo, and lives and works in the tropical Brazilian megacity. Verzutti’s drawings, sculptures, and paintings are very much inspired by São Paulo’s native vegetation but they have their own life force. She casts bronzes of bananas and pomegranates, along with more ambiguous shapes that may be lemons, pears, or the sensual curves of a human body. “I always try to find fertility in my practice,” Verzutti has said, “to have the feeling that the work will naturally grow from a small molecule of a decision.” The pieces in this exhibition, created during Verzutti’s residency in the French town, are likely to shock. —Elena Clavarino