Colapso do Ego 2013

Curator: Well, this piece just grabs you, doesn't it? It's got this primal scream vibe happening. Like something raw and unburdened, erupting from the canvas. Editor: It certainly does have a strong visceral presence. This is Paulo Tercio’s *Colapso do Ego*, painted in 2013 with acrylics, and immediately its visual language screams of the neo-expressionist movement. Look at how that energy conveys certain politics of the body. Curator: Oh, Neo-expressionism alright! All that unapologetic emotion… that frantic energy and clashing colors. That wide-open mouth just howling into the void… what does that mean, do you think? Is that the ego collapsing? Or being reborn, maybe? Editor: Interesting question. Consider how Neo-Expressionism emerged partly as a reaction against the cool detachment of conceptual art in the 1970s. Artists began to reclaim subjective expression, challenging the established norms and pushing back against institutions they felt were stifling genuine artistic creation. The scream might be interpreted as a defiance of those forces. Curator: Absolutely! I see what you mean. And that texture... that thick, almost tormented surface... it's like you can feel the artist's struggle, his very being imprinted right into the work. Editor: Yes, it is that surface—the thick application of acrylic paint—that recalls *Matter Painting*. Tercio appears to have manipulated the material to express a tangible intensity, which became prominent as some artists attempted to engage more directly with their materials. They imbue them with personal or socio-political significance through their methods of handling. Curator: So, more than just painting a feeling, but almost building it up, layer upon layer. The nude, the figure… it all screams rawness. It's like an exposed nerve. The longer I look, the more exposed *I* feel, as if standing too close to a burning fire. Editor: Indeed, such an evocative and, one might even say, theatrical work reveals the artist's concerns regarding visibility, power and control of image in the contemporary world. Curator: Hmmm. I’ll certainly have to keep my own “ego” in check, in this emotionally charged atmosphere. Thanks for sharing that socio-political dimension to appreciate Tercio’s vision. Editor: A pleasure, especially when engaging with artworks like this, which challenges the idea that the artist is separate from, or above, socio-political forces.