Artist Maria Lynch Returns to Rio with Interactive Exhibition

By Ciara Long, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Saturday, January 14th at 7:30 PM, the Carioca and internationally acclaimed artist Maria Lynch’s latest exhibition, Maquina Devir (Become Machine) will open in Ipanema’s Oi Futuro with free entry.

Occupying nine of Oi Futuro Ipanema’s rooms plus the ground floor, the exhibition will examine concepts of immanence and what it means to ‘become’ through a series of interactive exhibitions.

Although painting normally forms part of her exhibitions, Lynch’s latest collection will offer immersive experiences for participants featuring costumed actors, dancers and use of sensory stimuli such as scents.

The ground floor will feature an installation piece made from a collection of balls, along with a soundtrack by Brazilian musician Rodrigo Amarante.

Rooms will have names such as ‘Myth’, ‘What do you like to do most?’ and ‘Memory/Desire’, and will challenge participants’ to ask questions about how the spiritual world enters and interacts with their physical existences.

In one room, participants will be blindfolded and will be given materials to touch. In another, an actor dressed as a gorilla and another as a clown will quote philosophers such as Deleuze, Espinosa, and Nietzsche, who influenced Lynch in creating Maquina Devir.

According to Lynch, the idea is to provide experiences that deconstruct models of representation and open participants minds to concepts of instability.

“I try to show that we are capable of creating a new way of thinking and feeling, resisting established values,” she said. “As Espinosa would say, ‘man is free only when he comes into possession of his power to act’.”

Lynch, who was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1981 and studied at Parque Lage’s School of Visual Arts, has previously shown in galleries across the city including Nitéroi’s Museum of Contemporary Art and the Anita Schwartz Gallery in Gávea. She has won prizes in Brazil, Portugal and the USA.

Oi Futuro Ipanema has advised that only those aged 18 years or over will be permitted entry. The exhibition will run from Saturday, January 14th until Sunday, March 19th, and will be open between 1PM and 9PM on Tuesday through to Sunday and public holidays.

What: Máquina Devir exhibition, by Maria Lynch
When: Saturday, January 14th at 7:30 PM
Where: Oi Futuro Ipanema, Rua Visconde de Pirajá, 54, Ipanema
Entrance: For over 18s only, with free entry