Artist
Thiago Rocha Pitta
Artist
Artist Bio
Thiago Rocha Pitta’s (b. 1980, Tiradentes MG) diverse practice is connected to a deep fascination with the subtle transformations of the world around him. The slow erosion and alteration of desert terrain, the descent of a fog and the fluctuations of underwater formations. His installations, videos, and paintings capture the vibrancy of a living planet by training the viewer’s eye on the slow changes of materials, the physical progressions of miniscule particles of land, and the sudden shifts in weather.
Rocha Pitta was awarded the Marcantonio Vilaça Prize, Brazil (2005) and the Open Your Mind Prize, Switzerland (2009). In 2011, he was shortlisted for the EFG Bank & ArtNexus Acquisition Award Nomination. In 2014, he participated in the artistic residency program Circulating AiR, organized by Stiftelsen 3,14, Norway.
Artwork Description
Heritage is taken from of a film of the same name, which Rocha Pitta made in honour of his deceased father. The work shows a pair of trees in a boat, seemingly adrift at the sea, destination unknown, leaving viewers also feeling untethered, at a loss.
Since the work was made, Rocha Pitta has buried the boat at his home studio in Petropolis, an ecological sanctuary in a mountainous area outside Rio de Janeiro. The trees were also planted here and are thriving as part of this precious ecology.
