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"Touch" Art Project
Artist: Adélio Sarro (1950)
The first contemporary art exhibition accessible to blind and visually impaired people.
Executive Producer: Ricardo Fernandes
US Producer: Roger Fountain
Parisian Guest Curator: Thierry Renaudin-Viot
Opening: September 5th 2012 from 6pm to 10pm
Exhibition: from September 3rd to October 3rd 2012
Open daily from 11pm to 7pm
Free entrance
Location address : Cloitre des Billettes
24, rue des Archives
75004 PARIS
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Adélio Sarro's work is altruistic and social.
Sarro draws from his challenging childhood to question his social environment.
This project not only dares to present an exhibition for the visually impaired but also proposes a voluntary meeting which extends equality and mutual sharing for all others.
In reaffirming the place of disabled people in our society, the artist questions the access to art and the methods involved.
Integration becomes more than a democratic duty, it is a cultural and social emergency. Adélio Sarro crosses that invisible barrier and connects both sides in a shared perception.
It builds together a new field of artistic creation and art interpretation.
Ricardo Fernandes
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The Project...
“TOUCH” ART PROJECT presents a selection of 16 paintings from Brazilian artist Adélio Sarro, dedicated to visually disabled persons. The exhibition was presented twice in Brazil, first at the Salvador Contemporary Art Museum, then at the Sao Paulo Art Museum. “Touch” is being presented at the Cloitres des Billettes in Paris from September 4th to October 2nd 2012.
The invitation only, cocktail reception will be held on September 5th from 6pm to 10pm. Press will be admitted from 5pm to 6pm.
“TOUCH” ART PROJECT was born from the soul of Adélio Sarro to enable visually impaired people to understand and access his work.
He developed his own method of communicating with the blind and visually impaired. Beyond the anthropological sense of his paintings, the artist strives to make his work accessible by stimulating tactile perception. The artist uses different materials in a mixed technique that joins together paint, paper, wood, sand and other media. As visitors touch and feel different textures they get a complete representation of the painting.
The Artist...
Adélio Sarro was born in 1950 in Andradina, Sao Paulo State, Brazil.
Born into an agricultural family, Adelio was confronted with the extreme precariousness of a farmer’s life. Their financial stress forced his family into a series of decisions that profoundly affected Adélio Sarro’s life and personal formation.
Faced with harsh reality and rustic solitude, Adelio internalized the images of his childhood that inspired his art. Despite these difficulties, Adelio became an illustrator for the advertising poster business in Sao Paulo.
In 1972, he discovered the paintings of Brazilian artist Candido Portinari (1903-1962). During a visit to Portinari’s home in Brodowski (Brazil), he touched one of Portinari’s paintings and felt a strange vibration. He knew from that moment on that he was destined to become an artist.
Despite the indifference of the local art critics for someone who sold paintings on the street, his paintings were widely accepted and sold throughout the international community.
Adelio Sarro’s work continues to stimulate and provoke an emotional response from the public.
The Parisian Curator...
Thierry Renaudin-Viot has been the General Secretary of the Victor Hugo Museum of Paris for over 20 years. He is also the Director of the Cultural Centre Cloitre des Billettes where he has launched an innovative cultural policy by organizing exhibitions to promote artists and by allowing the medieval centre Cloitre des Billettes to become a center for art and cultural activities all year round.
Thierry Renaudin-Viot was named Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters in 1994 and promoted to Officer in 2000. He is an expert in the concept of universal access in the cultural sector. Mr. Renaudin-Viot has agreed to be curator of the Parisian exhibition entitled "Toucher pour Voir?”. It is the first exhibition in Paris for the blind and visually impaired.
“When Ricardo Fernandes introduced me to Sarro’s artwork, I immediately thought this is a project that speaks to the heart and is open to all without discrimination. We started discussing and concluded that the way to achieve a perfect scenography would be to use the band aid orientation (BAO). The BAO is the tactile material used in the streets which guides the blind. This material helps each visitor move independently and face the artwork so it can be touched. This material is also aesthetic and part of the exhibition concept.
For the first time, it will be used as an exhibition design and contemporary element. The texture and Braille serve as a tool of mediation for the senses in the creative process explored by the artist.
The choice of the yellow color is not trivial. The bright yellow represents sun, life and light. The cardinal points located in the courtyard of the cloister reinforce the visual concept that accessibility is a universal element because the concept of this exhibition was designed to be adaptable everywhere.”
The Location...
Cloître des Billettes, 24 rue des Archives (Marais).
The chapel behind the cloister was built in 1294. After several restorations the cloister was built as an annex to the complex in 1427. The Cloitre des Billettes is classified as a historical monument in the city of Paris. It is the last remaining medieval cloister in the city.
Framed by majestic arches and contrasted by the Rocaille style of the chapel, the cloister evokes memories of the time when reverence and serenity were enjoyed by the monks and Carmelite nuns who once lived and walked the central garden.
Now, the Cloitre des Billettes has been converted into a remarkable exhibition venue.
It represents a milestone in the career of the painter Adélio Sarro, who is recognized as one of the masters of Brazilian art.
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