Favelas: architecture of survival – Photographs by Pedro Lobo, Opens at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park
October 13, 2010
CHARLESTON, SC – The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs presents Favelas: architecture of survival – Photographs by Pedro Lobo. The City Gallery at Waterfront Park, 34 Prioleau Street, will present this solo exhibition for its debut in the United States. The public is invited to an opening reception on Thursday, October 21 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Lobo’s artist’s lecture on Saturday, October 23 at 2 p.m. The photographs will be on view from Thursday, October 21 until Tuesday, November 23.
Pedro Lobo is a Brazilian-born photographer who, in this work, charts the longest-lived of the world’s squatter settlements, Rio de Janerio’s favelas. Squatters worldwide number around a billion; in Rio live some one million. They are people, for the most part, without addresses, titles to their land, utilities, or, governmental services. Lobo’s photographic landscapes hint at organized chaos as homes scale the hills behind tourist, official Rio. The photographs capture the hardening of these urban spaces as people put down roots and community develops. The beautifully composed images do not shy away from the sprawl, or the hardships of the favelas, yet they are filled with optimism necessary for life in these marginalized urban neighborhoods.
Favelas: architecture of survival has been previously exhibited in Brazil and four other countries; however the exhibit at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park will be the first time this work has gone on display in the U.S. It will include more than 40 large format prints. Favelas: architecture of survival is sponsored by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, the Art Institute of Charleston, and the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston. Lobo is an international artist in residence at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art for the month of October.
Lobo is a Fulbright Scholar who has studied at the International Center of Photography, NYC, and at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In the 1970’s and 1960’s, Lobo was a photographer and researcher at Brazil’s National Center for Cultural Reference and at the Monuments and Sites National Institute. He photographed the historical sites of Ouro Preto, Olinda, Salvador, and São Miguel das Missões for their inclusion in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Lobo works to show the viewer aspects overlooked in the landscape where individual expression and social processes mark places for his large format camera. He currently resides in Rio de Janeiro and Évora, Portugal. The exhibition on view won first prize in TOPS IN International Photo Festival, Shenyang, China.
Favelas: architecture of survival is a component of the bluesphere: earth art expo. bluesphere was initiated by the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art and made possible by collaborations between many of Charleston’s art and education organizations. This effort seeks to bring sustainability education to the residents of Charleston, S.C., through a mixture of visual art exhibitions, lectures, films and activities focusing on the environment, conservation and how views of our world’s resources are presented and expressed through art. For more information about bluesphere programs, visit www.halsey.cofc.edu/bluesphere.
The City Gallery at Waterfront Park, owned by the City of Charleston and operated by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, is a venue for contemporary artwork that is new, vital and innovative, with a focus on broadening Charleston’s arts outlook. The City Gallery provides access to the visual arts for everyone in Charleston, S.C., visitors and residents alike, by offering exhibits that are all admission-free. The City Gallery is located at 34 Prioleau St. in downtown Charleston, S.C., and gallery hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information, please call or e-mail the City Gallery at (843) 958-6484 or CityGallery@charleston-sc.gov and visit www.charlestonarts.sc.
