MAN IS AN amphibian who lives simultaneously in two worlds – the given and the homemade, the world of matter, life and consciousness and the world of symbols. In our thinking we make use of a great variety of symbol-systems – linguistic, mathematical, pictorial, musical, ritualistic. Without such symbol-systems we should have no art, no science, no law, no philosophy, not so much as the rudiments of civilization: in other words, we should be animals.

By Aldous Huxley

The First and Last Freedom is derived from two alternative perspectives: the introduction by Aldous Huxley in the book of his long-term colleague and friend, Jiddu Krishnamurti and Krishnamurti’s second major opus, The First and Last Freedom.

This exhibition intends to connect various cultural and historical influences and translate them into a unique conversation amongst a young generation of artists coming from different cultural backgrounds.

Can we define our actual era? Krishnamurti defines a society as a product of human’s relationships in it. How long can the humanity sustain the global consumerism knowing that there is less and less support from the government for the higher education in arts, humanities and social sciences? Artists, scientists and philosophers respond to the actual era by replacing the future into a global utopia. Their perception is shaping a universal message mirroring the humanity in the quest of seeking the truth of the present. Exploring this concept, the exhibition presents works of following artists; Matias Duville, Paulo Nimer Pjota and Luiz Roque. Selected works denote language components made of memories and symbols that reflect deeply in our conscious being.

The works of the artists point to the symbolical aspects of the old world, encouraging the spectator to create a train of images that lead away from the reality into fantasies of the past or future. In his book “The First and Last Freedom,” Krishnamurti says, “Ideas are memories, the result of experience, which is response to challenge.”1 The world today is perhaps experiencing the collapse where the ideas of Freedom has become part of the universal vocabulary and represents just a word, or a stand-in for an untold dream for most of the humanity.
Krishnamurti remarks “ We do not need great historians to tell us the fact that our society is crumbling; and there must be new architects, new builders, to create a new society. The structure must be built on a new foundation, on newly discovered facts and values. Such architects do not yet exist.”2

In the meantime, remembering some shadows of the old world which displays the instinctive, archaic playground in our memories, we should not forget the significance of the world of symbols

1 “The First and Last Freedom,” J. Krishnamurti (New York: Harper & Row, 1975), Chapter 10.

2 Ibid., Chapter 3
Matias Duville (1974) Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Duville’s best-known project ‘Alaska’ began in 2008 when he started to produce prolific drawings of the U.S. state—a place he had never visited—through fantastical and often nightmarish vistas and desolate landscapes inhabited only by remnants of human existence. He received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 2011 and recently launched “Alaska”, edited by Drawing Center, New York (2013) alongside a solo presentation, Discard Geography, at Ecole de beaux arts, Chapelle des Petits-Augustins, Paris (2013). Numerous group exhibitions include: Colaboration. Autodestrucción 4. Abraham Cruzvillegas, Thomas Dane Gallery, London (2014); La Distance Juste Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois, Paris (2013) and Tenth Parallel Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio, Modena (2012).

Paulo Nimer Pjota (1988) São Paulo, Brazil.
Pjota creates images that superimpose the graphic and pictorial production of major urban centres, accumulating layers of materials and references that may not bear any apparent formal or thematic relation to each other. Plants, crystals, skulls, flowers, mechanical objects, words and phrases all float free in different scales and dimensions while motifs are often directly taken from the streets of São Paulo. His recent solo exhibitions include: Relational System, Season of Projects – Paço das Artes São Paulo, São Paulo (2013); Mendes Wood Gallery, São Paulo (2012); Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo (2012). Group exhibitions include: Imagine Brazil, Astrup Feranley Museet, Oslo (2013); Entre-temps… Brusquement, et ensuite, 12e Biennale de Lyon, Lyon (2013); and Volúvel Paraná Contemporary Art Museum, Curitiba, Brazil (2008).

Luiz Roque (1979) São Paulo, Brazil.
Roque is interested in the plasticity of the image, its surface and iconic potential. He often utilises analogue technologies, particularly Super 8 and 16mm film in addition to magnetic tapes, in order to super­impose layers of time on his films and photographs. Recent solo exhibitions include O Ultimo Dia, Phosorus, Sao Paulo and O Novo Monumento, Envoyenterprises, New York. His work has been shown in exhibitions such The Brancusi Effect, Kunsthalle Wien (2014), 9a. Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre (2013); Constructions Views: experimental film & video from Brazil, New Museum, New York (2010); and Video Links Brazil, Tate Modern, London (2007) among others.

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/21437