Jonathas de Andrade: Com O Corao Saindo Pela Boca

Ingenious sculptural takes on idiomatic language from a leading Brazilian artist

For his installation at the Brazilian pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale (2022), Jonathas de Andrade (born 1982) draws on idiomatic expressions using metaphors of the body to develop a series of two- and three-dimensional works that render tangible the poetry of these expressions. For example, two immense ears placed at the entrance and exit of the pavilion allow the public to "go in one ear and out the other," while an inflatable balloon, which invades the space at various times of the day, alludes to a "heart coming out of the mouth." The emphasis on the body, especially the body of the man from the Brazilian Northeast, is also characteristic of several of the artist's earlier works featured in this book, which also includes essays by the publication's editor Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, and Clarissa Diniz.