In a New London Show, Brazilian Artist Tunga’s Sculptures Challenge the Medium’s Possibilities – Artnet News

17 April 2025

For Brazilian artist Tunga (1952–2016), visual art was a transformative lens through which myriad fields of knowledge could be seen and understood in a new light—from philosophy and psychoanalysis to biology and even alchemy. Recognized as a pioneer of Brazilian contemporary art, and still considered one of the country’s best-known artists, Tunga’s conceptually multifaceted practice speaks to his unique view of reality, and, more specifically, its malleability.

In September 2024, Lisson Gallery announced representation of Tunga’s estate and is currently staging the artist’s first solo with the gallery at its Lisson Street location in London. On view through May 17, 2025, “Tunga” also marks the first time the artist’s work has been shown in London since 2018, when Tate Modern presented Xifópagas Capilares Entre Nós (Capillary Xiphopagus Among Us), one of Tunga’s iconic performances.

Taking sharp focus on the mature period of Tunga’s career and practice, the show highlights work that exemplify his penchant for experimenting and diversifying his sculptures both materially and compositionally. While works from earlier periods are marked by more straightforward and pared back forms, here, Tunga’s sculptures engage with multiple elements at once, lightness and density, balance, ephemerality, energy, and more.

Highlights from the show include Fração de Luz (Fraction of Light) (1981-2010), the show’s earliest dated. Evoking the power system between marionette and puppeteer, an articulated cord is hung by a nail on the wall and holds in its terminating hook a bundle of long black hair. Gravitational force itself becomes a key component of the work, grounding the work in reality, yet its monochromatic blackness and unusual materials offer a sense of the uncanny. Here, Tunga’s ability to work with invisible forces are underscored.

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