Ágora

What?

It is at least curious that in a universe filled with so many truths, affirmations, and radicalisms, someone today would embrace doubt. There is always an answer at the tip of the tongue or fingertips, followed by countless counterarguments, cancellations, and justifications. However, all understanding occurs in a field of ambiguity; our relationship with the world is not based on pure intellectual comprehension but on lived experience, which is inherently uncertain and open to interpretation. And what if, suddenly, when we looked in the mirror, we didn’t see ourselves? Consciousness is simultaneously certainty of self and doubt about oneself. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?”

As an artist, Claudio Alvarez is a disseminator of uncertainties; his work reveals itself between the tangible and the fictitious, suggesting an undefined perspective of the world where consciousness is in constant interaction with a fluid reality, as if doubt were inseparable from human experience—a place of perplexity that drags us to the abyss of existence, where we are forced to make choices. But what lies on the other side of the window where the garments dance? The studies are here to uncover the mystery, and so we experiment, make mistakes, research, and take positions that may, for a time, establish what is right—until we discover others and this one becomes archaic. This is the very essence and driving force of science, distinguishing it from faith. The uncertain.

Thus, we find ourselves in our own agora, where we establish our priorities, truths, and conflicts, and where questioning becomes an essential tool between us and the world. Doubt becomes an invitation to live fully, even amidst the risk of missteps or errors in perception.

From the fictitious that is seen, the real is made. Is there a distinction? I don’t know.

Paulo Kassab Jr.

Claudio Alvarez
Rosario, Argentina, 1955. Lives and works in Curitiba, Brasil.

Researcher of movement and perception, Claudio Alvarez proposes challenges to the eye, a researcher of movement and perception, creates challenges for the eye, constructing mechanisms in which what we see contradicts what we know. Optical illusions, mirror and lighting effects, moving objects, and dynamic forms are elements that make up his vast repertoire of visual games.

According to art critic Fabrício Nunes, “Alvarez develops constructions that activate a perception that combines analysis and fascination, reasoning and illusion—two fundamental modes of human interaction with the world.”

In his works, geometric structures are relativized, set in motion through situations of oscillating and dynamic balance. The optical illusions present in some pieces provoke questions about our own perception, the real world, and the world of appearances. By uniting fluidity, illusion, and materiality, Alvarez’s works establish a form of rationality in which sensation is also thought.

The exhibition “How Are You, Generation 80?” held at Parque Lage in Rio de Janeiro in 1984 marks the beginning of his presence in the Brazilian art scene and the start of numerous solo and group exhibitions, both nationally and internationally.