When he unveiled his poster for last year’s Rio Olympics, Claudio Tozzi’s work, aptly titled Movimento, did not feature pop culture icons rendered in primary colors like his oeuvre from the ‘60s. Instead it presented an enlivened mosaic of geometric and organic shapes.
Though riddling, in gazing at the Sao Paolo-native’s colorful abstract creation you can almost hear the clamor of excited spectators. The work was the product of his recent expedition into the enigmatic world of deconstructed urban spaces and visual icons—screws, stairs and palm trees.
It was during this period of unfurling things to their essence that Tozzi’s latest exhibition, “Territorios,” slowly emerged. The show, which runs through April 2 at the Gary Nader Art Centre in Wynwood, features a collection of Tozzi’s paintings from the last seven years.
Among the culturati in attendance at the exhibition’s opening was Adalnio Senna Ganem, the consul general of Brazil in Miami. It was an honor that was particularly special for Tozzi, especially when combined with the fact his paintings at the gallery neighbored the works of renowned artists, such as Frida Kahlo and Fernando Botero.
“It is a great pleasure to exhibit at Gary Nader, the most important gallery of Latin American art,” says Tozzi. “Being by the side of great artists is an honor for me.”
Though all of the paintings in his exhibition are titled Territorio, none of them seem to transmit the same feelings. Each work—separated by their year of creation—features a unique assemblage of shapes and colors that play a different tune. But samba nevertheless.
Some, for instance, seem to flow over you like the song “Magalenha” swirls over you, infusing the air with a rhythmic dance-inducing chorus. Others throb with a hardline beat reminiscent of “Carcará.”
Though his work has evolved tremendously from his Pop art from yesterdecades, which once featured astronauts blasting through the atmosphere en route to the moon, Tozzi now grabs you by the hand and takes you into the mysterious realm of pure emotion via intuitively arranged lines and planes.
