«The Miracle of Helvetia» – Guerreiro do Divino Amor [BR/CH]

Guerreiro do Divino Amor [BR/CH] investigates the set of forces that run human misadventure on Earth. He goes through gaps to explore hidden stories and to question the veracity of official narratives.

Through fiction, the artist searches for reality. Since 2005, Guerreiro has been working on the project «Superfictions», a world atlas that investigates how fictions (of different natures, geographical, social, political or religious) interfere in the construction of the collective imaginary. The research takes shape through videos, publications and animated backlight panels that mix different aesthetics, popular references, irony, and humour.

The first chapter, «The Battle of Brussels» describes a war between two antithetically opposed civilizations, the empire and the galaxy, vying for control of the Belgian capital and its inhabitants. The following four turned to complex Brazilian structures: «SuperRio Superfictions» (about the superficial ecosystem that emerged in Rio de Janeiro on the eve of the 2016 Olympics), «Expanded Metropolitan Supercomplex» (which describes the endless production machine of São Paulo’s concrete jungle), «The Crystallization of Brasilia» (an epic, inspired by the construction of the Brazilian capital, about the country’s mythical rationalism and neo-colonial narrative), and «The Mineral World» (a fantasy that travels through supertraditions and superdevelopments in the state of Minas Gerais).

Guerreiro turned to his Swiss origins for the fifth and most recent episode of this series. Starting from the city of Geneva, he thought of territory at once natural and artificial, an isolated idyll and a key element in the geopolitical and economic structure. Developed in 2020 during a residency at the Embassy of Foreing Artists [CH], «The Miracle of Helvetia» investigates what the Swiss collective imagination and identity are made of. To this end, Guerreiro makes a contemporary reinterpretation of the mythological figure of Helvetia, questioning what would be the divinities and sacred values of today’s Switzerland.

The result of this work is part of the exhibition «Superfictional Sanctuaries», Guerreiro’s retrospective that is on show at the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève [CH] from 25 May to 7 August 2022.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Guerreiro do Divino Amor (Warrior of Divine Love) is a Swiss-Brazilian artist with a master’s degree in architecture. His research explores the Superfictions, hidden forces that interfere in the construction of territory and collective imaginary, taking form in films, publications and installations. His work has been shown in several exhibitions and national and international festivals, besides being finalist of the Vivo do Cinema Brasileiro Grand Prize 2009, with his work «Clube da Criança» (2008). Currently, he lives and works in Rio de Janeiro.