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Works / Ascension

In the Ascension series, Gustavo Prado brings together two important interpretative keys to Brazilian history – not only in the field of art but also beyond it. The first of these is the religious reference, especially Baroque, which is present in this body of work, starting with the title. The Ascension of the Lord is an important biblical passage, often depicted in religious paintings as the representation of Jesus' entry into heaven after his resurrection and the exaltation of human victory over sin. In this series by Gustavo Prado, what we see in each work are faces taken from Baroque paintings that represent the ascension. Although they have been removed from their original contexts, they all continue to look upward, with the same expressive and emotional intensity as before. They now look at something or someone we cannot see, exploring a recurring interest in the artist’s work to provoke the viewer’s perception.

Ascension also references Brazil's historic and ongoing discussion on the country's economic and industrial progress and the overcoming of underdevelopment. The images chosen by Gustavo are reconstructed using a modular logic, structured around a grid system, which is one of the foundations of the Brazilian constructive art movement of the 1950s. The Lego pieces used in this process reinforce the modular thinking, while also making us see pixelated images, highlighting the playful and familiar dimension of these images. This familiarity is further emphasized by the titles of each work, which transform these characters into ordinary people (Madalena, Maria, Jerônimo, Francisco, Cecília) by removing the reference to their hierarchical roles within Catholic liturgy.