Linhas Tortas opens at Mendes Wood
Linhas Tortas is a multi-venue international group exhibition that celebrates the entanglements of journeys and the power of storytelling. Inspired by the Brazilian aphorism ‘deus escreve certo por linhas tortas’, which literally translates to ‘god writes straight with crooked lines’ and metaphorically to ‘god works in mysterious ways’, the show follows complex trails (of thought and of life) that unfold when one sets off with intention but without an end in sight. It takes paths that are not driven by expediency or efficiency, not optimized by supply and demand, but rather ones that avoid the many shortcuts blazed by capitalist and/or colonial forces to better the few at the expense of the many. It questions who had the right to write history, and posits new ways to (re)inscribe profound perspectives and systems of being that were deliberately obscured from view.
Antony Gormley’s sculptures Level (2019) and Thread (2022) are included in the exhibition.
Photograph: Installation view, Linhas Tortas, Mendes Wood DM São Paulo, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM São Paulo, Brussels, New York. Copyright of the artist. Photograph by Gui Gomes.