Otavio Schipper (Brazil, 1979) holds a degree in Physics from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. He has received the KLAS Award from the Max Planck Society in 2017 and the Berlin Fellowship from the Akademie der Künste in 2015. Schipper has been invited as a Guest Artist by the Arts at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) program in 2019.
The artist has presented his work at venues such as: Kunstmuseum Thun (Switzerland), Schering Stiftung Project Space (Germany), Max Planck Institute (Germany), MOT International (United Kingdom), Akademie der Künste (Germany), Kunsthalle Winterthur, (Switzerland), Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Denmark), Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (Brazil), Galleri Specta (Denmark), Shin Gallery (USA), Die Raum (Germany), Jamestown Arts Center (USA) and Château de Montsoreau-Musée d'Art Contemporain (France),
Through the presentation of ready-made objects such as antique telegraph machines, tuning forks, eyeglasses, elevator cabins and electric poles, Otavio Schipper’s work connects past physical worlds with our present mental landscapes. The realms of imagination become present in installations that deal with the perception of time and the cultural memory of objects, leading to the questioning of boundaries between fiction and reality. In Schipper’s installations, the spectator often experiences a spectrum of sensations, from enlightenment to nostalgia. Elements of hard science and technologies from different periods lead the viewer into territories more closely associated with dream states and imagination dives, instead of a systematic organization of knowledge in the form of testable explanations and
predictions about the universe.
photo: Jorge Bispo
The artist has presented his work at venues such as: Kunstmuseum Thun (Switzerland), Schering Stiftung Project Space (Germany), Max Planck Institute (Germany), MOT International (United Kingdom), Akademie der Künste (Germany), Kunsthalle Winterthur, (Switzerland), Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Denmark), Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (Brazil), Galleri Specta (Denmark), Shin Gallery (USA), Die Raum (Germany), Jamestown Arts Center (USA) and Château de Montsoreau-Musée d'Art Contemporain (France),
Through the presentation of ready-made objects such as antique telegraph machines, tuning forks, eyeglasses, elevator cabins and electric poles, Otavio Schipper’s work connects past physical worlds with our present mental landscapes. The realms of imagination become present in installations that deal with the perception of time and the cultural memory of objects, leading to the questioning of boundaries between fiction and reality. In Schipper’s installations, the spectator often experiences a spectrum of sensations, from enlightenment to nostalgia. Elements of hard science and technologies from different periods lead the viewer into territories more closely associated with dream states and imagination dives, instead of a systematic organization of knowledge in the form of testable explanations and
predictions about the universe.
photo: Jorge Bispo