Zielinsky is pleased to present “Ramos” by Julio Bittencourt (1980, Brazil). In collaboration with Galeria Lume, the artist’s first show in Spain exhibits a series of photographs developed during four summers in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), between 2009 and 2012.
The photographs are the result of the artist’s research on the multiple realities present in Piscinão de Ramos, an artificial beach used as a place of leisure and sociability in a peripheral region of Rio de Janeiro. The beach, that democratic and festive place, finds its maximum exponent in Ramos: bodies, food, games, sunscreen, heat, sweat, love stories and a throbbing life that is on stage under the gaze of the photographer who meticulously records every detail and event. About the place, Julio tells us: “I was encouraged to photograph the Piscinão de Ramos because it is an unusual space that, in addition to serving as a recreation area not only for the population that lives around it, is also a place that coexists with problems such as violence and pollution.
The exhibition presents a photographic narrative of 9 images where the intensity of the sun on the bodies makes each of the scenes a surreal record, or as Martin Parr writes about Julio’s photographs: “you can almost smell the beach when you look at these images”. The “Ramos” series was nominated this year for the Prix Pictet, an award that aims to harness the power of photography – all genres of photography – to draw global attention to issues of sustainability, especially those concerning the environment.
___
Julio Bittencourt was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1980 and currently lives and works between São Paulo and Paris. He has participated in numerous exhibitions in different contexts and countries, notably in the institutions: Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, USA; Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Brazil; Ernst Leitz Museum, Wetzlar, Germany; Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, Taichung City, Taiwan; Angkor Photo Festival, Angkor, Cambodia; Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Museum of Fine Arts, Santiago, Chile; Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France; MASP- Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil.
His works appear in the collections of institutions such as the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts (K*MoPA), Japan; Noorderlicht Gallery, Groningen,The Netherlands; Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Brazil; Pirelli / MASP Photography Collection, São Paulo, Brazil; Fundação Conrado Wessel, São Paulo, Brazil; Itaú Cultural Institute, São Paulo, Brazil; Bibliotheque Nationale de France, France.
His work has been published in magazines such as GEO,Stern,TIME, Le Monde, The Wall Street Journal, C Photo, The Guardian, The New Yorker, Esquire, French Photo, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, Leica World Magazine, among others.