FLEXA + TROPIGALPÃO
Flexa and Tropigalpão space inaugurate in partnership the short-term exhibition The Kiss on the AsphaltThe Kiss on the Asphalt, curated by Ulisses Carrilho
Freely inspired by Nelson Rodrigues’ marginal drama, the exhibition evokes the city—the space of tragedy—as the ground of revelry. In the encounter between flesh and asphalt, these lips reveal an eroticism that disorients the order of the day: where desire spills over, norms are repositioned.
The Kiss on the Asphalt, by Nelson Rodrigues, emerges as a radical gesture, an act of love that, contrary to its sweet surface, is a subterranean blow to the moral order of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The public kiss between two men is not merely a symbol of affection, but a profound subversion of sexual normativity. The asphalt, this hard and cruel surface of the city, is stained by what cannot be contained: the repressed desire that seeps through the cracks of social conventions. In the clash between bodies and norms, the kiss is an act of resistance, a gesture of loving rebellion that tensions the moral fabric of the city and challenges the cisheteronormative regime.
If the kiss on the asphalt symbolizes a rupture with moral normativity, it can also be read as a political metaphor. The kiss is a gesture of transgression, but also of resistance: it challenges the established order, questions social norms, and exposes the hypocrisy of bourgeois morality. In this context, marginality becomes a space of potential transformation.
A mostra reúne obras de artistas como Allan Weber, Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato, Anísio O. Couto, Carlos Vergara, Heitor dos Prazeres, Hélio Oiticica, Ivens Machado, Matheus Chiaratti, Melissa de Oliveira, Miriam Inêz da Silva, Moacir Farias, Sérgio Richard, Ubi Bava, Val Souza, Vera Chaves Barcellos, Victor Arruda, Yhuri Cruz.
WORKS
Carlos Vergara
Homem com rosto prateado, da série [from the series] Carnaval, 1972/1976
impressão fotográfica sobre papel [photographic printing on paper]
150 x 100 cm [59 x 39 3/8 in]
Val Souza
Estudo de Vênus, 2022
impressão fine art sobre papel [fine art printing on paper]
10 x 8 cm (each) [4 x 3 1/8 in]
Allan Weber
Sem Título [Untitled], 2024
bancos de motocicleta [motorbike seat]
120 x 90 x 30 cm [47 1/4 x 35 3/8 x 11 3/4 in]
Hélio Oiticica
B 47 Bólide caixa 22 – Mergulho do corpo, 1967
caixa d’água com inscrição de letras de borracha preta [water tank with black rubber lettering]
47,5 x 55 x 55 cm [18 3/4 x 21 5/8 x 21 5/8 in]
Hélio Oiticica
Luis Guimarães veste próximo ao cais 42 New York, 1972
fotografia [photograph]
47 x 31,5 cm [18 1/2 x 12 1/4 in]
Miriam Inez da Silva
Fla x Flu – Tarde de sol…, 1984
óleo sobre madeira [oil on wood]
26,9 x 40,2 cm [10 5/8 x 15 7/8 in]
Ivens Machado
Sem Título [Untitled], 1984
ferro, concreto e mosaico de ladrilho [iron, concrete and tile mosaic]
170 x 51 x 80 cm [66 7/8 x 20 1/8 x 31 1/2 in]
Victor Arruda
Figuras vegetais sobre a cidade ainda adormecida [Plant figures over the still sleeping city], 2022
acrílica sobre tela [acrylic on canvas]
83 x 100 cm [32 5/8 x 39 3/8 in]
Miriam Inez da Silva
Sem Título [Untitled], 1984
óleo sobre madeira [oil on wood]
29 x 61,2 cm [11 3/8 x 24 1/8 in]
Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato
Sem Título [Untitled], 1989
óleo sobre aglomerado de madeira [oil on canvas on wood chipboard]
55.5 x 40 cm [21 7/8 x 15 3/4 in]
Heitor dos Prazeres
Briga de rua, 1966
óleo sobre tela [oil on canvas]
37 x 45 cm [14 5/8 x 17 3/4 in]
Melissa de Oliveira
No escurinho, 2024
impressão fotográfica sobre papel [photographic printing on paper]
80 x 120 cm [31 1/2 x 47 1/4 in]
Ed.: 3 + 1 P.A. [A.P.]
Ubi Bava
Homenagem ao espectador, 1977
espelho e acrílico [mirror and acrylic]
78 x 78 cm [30 3/4 x 30 3/4 in]
Matheus Chiaratti
C. (Living Model), 2023
óleo sobre tela [oil on canvas]
30 x 20 cm [11 3/4 x 7 7/8 in]
Anísio Couto
Olho de espinho, 2022
óleo sobre tela [oil on canvas]
41 x 76,5 cm [16 1/8 x 30 1/8 in]
Moacir Farias
Sem Título [Untitled], s.d. [n.d.]
giz de cera sobre papel [crayon on paper]
45 x 33 cm [17 3/4 x 13 in]
Yhuri Cruz
Jongo & Adriano: Uma fotonovela, 2022
impressão fotográfica em papel Hahnemühle Photo Luster 260g [photographic printing on Hahnemühle Photo Luster 260g paper]
110 x 73 x 4 cm [43 1/4 x 28 3/4 x 1 5/8 in] (each)
Sérgio Richard
Sem Título [Untitled], da série [from the series] Brazilian Homo, s.d. [n.d.]
impressão fotográfica fine art sobre papel [fine art photographic printing on paper]
60 x 40 cm [23 5/8 x 15 3/4 in]
Vera Chaves Barcellos
On Ice, 1978/2023
impressão fotográfica sobre papel [photographic printing on paper]
70 x 70 cm (each) [27 1/2 x 27 1/2 in (each)]
Yhuri Cruz
O convite, da série [from the series] Pretofagia, 2022
pastel seco sobre papel [dry chalk pastels on paper]
65 x 90 cm [25 5/8 x 35 3/8 in]