Tucano 

Curator: Look at this delightful resin sculpture! It’s titled "Tucano" by Abraham Palatnik, isn't it striking? Editor: Absolutely. It's so sleek and… quiet? Almost as if it's holding its breath. The simplified form is lovely. I am drawn to the resin - it is so translucent, light and flowing. It captures the essence of a bird, and abstracts a vibrant creature so smoothly. Curator: Right, Palatnik's embrace of resin speaks to the mid-century interest in exploring industrial materials. The biomorphic form gestures at the natural world while completely being a product of synthetic processes. How interesting. Editor: It feels very Modern, and brings to mind an ideal! Palatnik gives us form stripped back to simple geometry, glowing colours, light in motion; the very essence of bird-ness in resin. I'm picturing it catching light in someone’s living room. Curator: That reminds me to talk about the "kinetic art" aspect, or perhaps "op art," Palatnik was a huge contributor to! What are the conditions of seeing this object? What kind of space does it need, how do its forms interplay with our gaze? This isn’t just a static object, it demands light and movement to be fully realized! Editor: Exactly! You're right, I almost overlooked that, and was stuck by the stillness and simplicity in my own head. When put like that it feels dynamic! It must really shimmer in the light and change the whole viewing experience as the eye catches it in different ways. Curator: Well, it also speaks to how our conception of 'nature' and the ‘organic’ have evolved. Is this sculpture organic in form or spirit? Or merely mimicking life through modern manufacturing? The lack of information of the piece may let viewers take their imagination to the test, wouldn't you say? Editor: A little, in a way. More like a high end design than some of the great artist in modernism in Brazil, it sits there glowing. That's the resin casting spell - there’s nothing else like that glow! Curator: It certainly raises the questions, and demonstrates how Brazilian modernism could integrate craft, design, and artistic inquiry into a single captivating form. Thanks, I’ve enjoyed viewing it from a fresh angle!