A retrospective of Bruno Peinado’s eclectic sculptures comprised as a total work.

In a short time Bruno Peinado (1970) has made a name for himself on the international art circuit with a set of solo shows in big European museums. For years I have followed his work. I find it visually powerful, it cuts urgent topics, is intelligent and humorous. The chameleonic Peinado draws endlessly on (sub)cultures and styles, rejects the concepts of ′new′, ′originality′ and ′purity′ and offers an excessive globalized eclecticism in its place. Driven by the idea of creolization Bruno Peinado mixes icons, logos, symbols, and one-liners agile to new images by exchanging color, material, shape or meaning. ′Creolization′ is a cultural-anthropological notion that indicates that cultures constantly mingle regardless of geographical territories in a process without a beginning nor an end.

Since Peinado′s work hadn’t been on show in Netherlands before, the artist and I decided to do a retrospective. I didn’t have a chronological presentation in mind but a motley mix of art works that would be lifted to a higher level by an intervention of the artist. Peinado came up with two giant purple cerebral hemispheres that would be executed in purple vinyl and stuck on the floor. On this wafer-thin ′pedestal′ pieces from 1993 until that time (2009) were cast together into a composite work. This floor sculpture referred to the exhibition title Purple Brain. During a three-day festival in the neighbourhood I showed Peinado’s outdoor sculpture in the shape of a giant moon. This inflatable moon shone at night.

In addition to Bruno Peinado I also made exhibitions in 21rozendaal with Wendy Morris, Het Harde Potlood and a flourishing generation of Belgian artists.