Pape was a founding member of the Neo-Concrete movement – where the object wasn't as important as the feelings it could generate. The work was pretty experimental and abstract. Pape said 'My concern is always invention. I always want to invent a new language that's different for me and for others, too'. I didn't really get it - apparently many of the works were a response to political repression in the 1960s and I don't know anything about that era in Brazil. It was a little bit confusing.
The woodcuts, abstract patterns, weren't that well cut or that well printed, to my mind - but then, I think that not many people are familiar with the medium of woodcuts, so might have a different approach to them.
The films and the prints didn't really capture my interest. A big series of square paintings (called Book of Time) that looked a little like emoticons and a little like stages in a origami instruction book were a bit more interesting. Not one is the same. Apparently each is meant to represent a day.
The one piece that really did impress me was an installation called Ttéia 1, C (Web). It consists of a series of fine wires arranged in square tunnels, cleverly lit in a deep dark space.
They reminded me of shafts of light in a forest - but there was also something urban and architectural about them. The way they criss-crossed was really impressive. There was something really beautiful and challenging about this work that struck me as special - and challenged me in a way I hadn't expected.
