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Valeska Soares

Entanglements

1995

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From each end of a long, flesh-colored wax slab protrudes a highly naturalistic mouth, held slightly ajar to reveal a tongue and teeth. Perfumed oil flows back and forth along the slab from one mouth to the other, suggesting a passionate interchange between two people. Valeska Soares describes the perfume as “a substance that crosses that border between being pleasurable and being overintoxicating.” By generating a visceral experience based on smell, this evocative installation, like much of the artist’s work, transcends traditional sculpture to create an encounter that is both inviting and disturbing. Soares joins a lineage of artists from her home country of Brazil, including Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica, who began creating multisensory and participatory installations in the 1960s. [Permanent collection label, 2016]

  • Artist Valeska Soares (Brazilian, b. 1957)
  • Title Entanglements
  • Date 1995
  • Medium Cast beeswax with oil perfume
  • Edition description 2/3
  • Dimensions unframed | 2 x 48 x 11 in.
  • Credit line Gift of Peter Norton, 2015
  • Object number 56.2015

Rotation 2: Contemporary Art from the Peter Norton Gift
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 09/11/2015 - 10/19/2015

Received 3/23/2015
Peter Norton (Los Angeles, CA)

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