"Walking in the White" solo exhibit by PJOTA (São Paulo, Brazil) August 7, 2009

Anno Domini presents...

"Walking in the White"
solo exhibition, PJOTA (São José do rio Preto, Brazil, b. 1988)

Currently residing in São Paulo, Pjota grew up in São José do rio Preto with an early interest in arts and graffiti. "When I was 13 years old, I would paint the walls with my friends." Pjota reflects upon that time often as he works, now aware that he was "studying the pictorial features of the streets without realizing it."

For his exhibition at Anno Domini, Pjota has created large canvases that are, according to him, “predominantly white” symbolizing his lone journey to California. One might conclude that the nearly miniature entities in his paintings are a result of his feeling "small" when thinking about traveling alone to unfamiliar territory. However, the gritty daily experiences of São Paulo, one of the most populated cities in the world, find their way onto the canvases bringing with them a density of texture, color, grids and hand-lettered scrawl...the canvases can hardly be considered “predominantly white” anymore. As with any environment, be it within a city or a painting, it is rich with discovery should you take the time to explore its depths.

Pjota has had significant exhibitions since he was 18 years old including solo exhibits at Galeria Choque Cultural, Museum of Contemporary Art of Paraná and the Volcom Art Space, all in Brazil. Most recently Pjota’s work was included in the Paperview exhibition at the John Jones Project Space in London which brought together works on paper from three renowned London based art collections: The Zabludowicz Collection, The Lodeveans Collection and The John Jones Contemporary Collection. Walking in the White is Pjota’s debut solo exhibition in the United States.

Opening Reception: First Friday, August 7, 2009
8pm til late, free and open to the public
Music: shudder — Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, English horn), Lance Grabmiller (laptop), Phillip Greenlief (tenor saxophone, Bb clarinet)

shudder employs improvisation, composition, and deep listening in the service of an assertive minimalism, mining the intersection of digital and carbon-based sound. The horns emphasize fractured drones and complex textures highly informed by electronic music, while the computer's dual role as sound generator and realtime processor creates an interactive, unstable hall of mirrors.

The group’s members are ubiquitous collaborators in the Bay Area experimental music scene and beyond; individually, they have worked with artists including (but not limited to) Scott Amendola, Olivia Block, Anthony Braxton, Cheer-Accident, Bobby Conn, Damon and Naomi, Trevor Dunn, EKG, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, Lozenge, Nels Cline, Pauline Oliveros, Oxbow, Pink Mountain, Sagan, Stars Like Fleas, and the San Francisco Symphony. They joined forces in 2004 and have since performed in settings including the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, the Edgetone New Music Summit, and the Stone in NYC.

Exhibit on view thru September 19, 2009 A.D.

Official Website: http://www.galleryAD.com