muSa Michelle Mattiuzzi
As vidas negras como matéria (from the series 1 (vida) ÷ 0 (negritude) = ∞ − ∞ ou ∞ / ∞ : sobre a matéria além da equação de valor), 2021
As vidas negras como matéria (aus der Serie 1 (vida) ÷ 0 (negritude)
= ∞ − ∞ ou ∞ / ∞ : sobre a matéria além da equação de valor), 2021
Charcoal on Arches cotton paper with fringed edge
76×56 cm
Unique work, framed, with certificate
sold out
The artist provides the Kunstverein Braunschweig with a triptych as an annual gift. The three-part work was created during her 2021 residency as a Villa Romana award winner in Florence and is part of a series of a total of 21 drawings. During her research period, muSa devoted particular attention to the publication "A dívida impagável" (Eng: Priceless Debt) by the Brazilian philosopher Denise Ferreira da Silva. This publication addresses the ethico-political challenges of the global present from a Black feminist perspective. muSa's works with rubbed charcoal on cotton paper address Black bodies beyond the value assigned to them by society: A questão das vidas negra (Engl. The Question of Black Lives) A matéria das vidas negras (Eng. The Matter of Black Lives) As vidas negras como matéria (Eng. Black Lives as Matter) muSa Michelle Mattiuzzi is an artist whose research and practice unfolds in performance, writing, photography, and film. Colonial violence is a constant theme of muSa's poetic inquiry. In her work, she appropriates and subverts the "exotic place" assigned to Black women's bodies by white normative image narratives. Currently, she is particularly interested in Black radical thought and in studying the works of philosopher Denise Ferreira da Silva and cultural theorist Fred Moten.