A Day Has 12 Coats

6 InkJet “Watercolor” Print on Japanese

Paper, 11.7 x 16.5 inches

Artist’s Testimonial

The pandemic drove me back to my recently completed project on women of the Diaspora and their efforts to reinvent a new biographical narrative in a foreign country. My studio closed, exhibitions were canceled, and my dining table became my work table. During this uncertain time, I discovered the great value of tools that defined who they became. They were the bridge that connected me to my craft - a place of familiarity and comfort. This prompted me to take a deeper look at the twenty-two women, part of my project 2x2.  I created inkjet images in watercolor, whilst re-examining their tools, crafts, and spaces on an emotional level — imagining how they dealt with the relentless changes they faced.

Simone Couto is a research-based, conceptual artist. Her practice focuses on people and places identities, poetics of hospitality, relation, reciprocity, and belonging. Simone was born in Brazil and has been living in New York since 1997.

ARTE BRASILEIRA NO CONSULADO |  Brazilian Art at the Consulate

Exhibition Living Through a Pandemic

Written by

Luciana Solano, Independent Curator

As New York gradually re-opens, a new global paradigm is being built before our eyes. Even in pre-pandemic times, we had been trying to make sense of a fragmented reality around us. Now, in response to COVID-19, a new interdependent world arises.  

The mandatory pause offered recurring global reflections on what is still  essential. Ideas on what constitutes a home and its geographical location accounted for unexpected displacements. Our hearts may have experienced precedence over the brain. Everywhere people resorted to nature to feel more grounded. The environment around us became uncertain, unpredictable, turning the once outlined reality into abstract perceptions and wishes to explore new worlds.

The pre-pandemic “normal”, accepted by most of us, had its oppressive structures exposed. The pandemic allowed for our re-engagement with old lines and limits: mental shared constructions. We became permeable and that included our own bodies and buildings. Ultimately we, individuals, the people, confronted ourselves primarily as beings and not as workers. While we shape a new future, some of those lines will accompany us; others will stay in history and new ones will germinate with the power to change everything.

While we emerge, living through this indelible period, I invite you to explore some of those global recurring reflections through the body of work of eleven NY-based Brazilian artists who made art in this context.

Exhibition presented by the Consulate-General of Brazil in New York

Support: Yu Bakery and Leblon Cachaça

Special Thanks: InPlus Interior Design