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José Damasceno: Observation Plan

Images

Installation view, José Damasceno: Observation Plan, MCA Chicago, lobby wall project, Jan 26, 2004–Jan 2, 2005

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Installation view, José Damasceno: Observation Plan, MCA Chicago, lobby wall project, Jan 26, 2004–Jan 2, 2005

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
A mural that covers a large wall depicts eleven people and three squares created using orange-brown blow paint.

Installation view, José Damasceno: Observation Plan, MCA Chicago, lobby wall project, Jan 26, 2004–Jan 2, 2005

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

About

Brazilian artist José Damasceno created Observation Plan, a scene depicting several figures looking at artworks, to make viewers aware of themselves looking at art. Using approximately 30,000 yellow no. 2 pencils, Damasceno comments on the idea of drawing by creating an image with objects that would normally be used to draw one.

Observation Plan recalls pointillist paintings in which tiny dots of paint create a picture that is recognizable only from a distance. Damasceno has often used thousands of common objects—such as hammers, chess pieces, string, and erasers—in representations that are, like Observation Plan, hybrids of sculpture and wall drawings. He instills his art with a sense of wonder by transforming the familiar into something new.

This project is curated by Assistant Curator Julie Rodrigues Widholm.

Funding

This exhibition is generously supported by the Exhibition Committee Fund.

Air transportation is provided by American Airlines, the official airline of the Museum of Contemporary Art.