In her compelling exhibition Balé Literal at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Brazilian artist Laura Lima orchestrates a captivating performance using everyday objects suspended from a pulley system, animated by an unseen cyclist. This theatrical spectacle blurs the lines between sculpture, performance, and conceptual theater, drawing inspiration from the DADA movement and Julio Cortázar’s Hopscotch to explore themes of absurdity, collaboration, and the fluidity of meaning. The “ballerinas,” as Lima affectionately calls them, engage in choreographed movements, their arrangements and actions imbued with symbolic weight, at times evoking Caravaggio’s dramatic compositions or the energy of cult cinema. Having evolved through iterations at MACBA in Barcelona and Instituto Inhotim in Brazil, this presentation features a new collaboration with musicians Arto Lindsay, Thiago Nassif, and Rodrigo Coelho, alongside sampled material from Ana Frango Elétrico. Laura Lima, known for her challenging and collaborative approach, invites viewers to actively engage with her “images,” questioning fixed notions of art and meaning within an experience that is both whimsical and profoundly thought-provoking. Tanya Bonakdar Gallery continues its commitment to innovative art by showcasing Lima’s unique vision.

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Dancing with the Unseen, Unpacking Laura Lima’s Existential Ballet of Objects and Meaning at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, 521 W 21st St #1, New York, NY 10011