Concretion

Gaep presents Concretion, an exhibition of new reliefs and sculptures by Felipe Cohen that deepen his pursuit of giving tangible form to time, natural light, the atmosphere of a place, and the interplay between them. Using an artistic lexicon grounded in geometric forms, economy of means, and poetic sensibility, Cohen seeks to solidify fluid states, materialize abstract or evanescent phenomena, and transform moments into memories. Embedded within his work is an understanding of abstraction not as a cold or purely rational language, but as a vehicle that engages the viewer’s imagination and emotions.

The eight reliefs from the series Concretion reveal the artist’s modus operandi: he develops a modular vocabulary of lines and shapes through which he evokes different landscapes, topographies, and objects associated with space and time. The same geometric elements, arranged in varying configurations, may call to mind the sea, the sun, a mountain, a waterfall, a sunset, a rafter, or an hourglass. Forsaking colour in favour of white, Cohen focuses on form—and on the way these three-dimensional works are perceived against the white gallery wall. Exploring the effects created by light in space—from the dematerialization of the horizon through reflection and the accentuation of certain areas within a landscape to the shaping of our emotional experience of space—the series approaches light as a fluid body. Light moves, changes, and disappears in an instant. Concretion fixes it in place, pauses that clock.

The infinite potential of simple geometries is equally evident in Hourglass, a group of five wall sculptures that formalize the passage of time through the materiality and appearance of plywood. The lateral sides of stacked plywood sheets form layers that evoke sand flowing through an hourglass. Moreover, the frontal and lateral views of the five pieces complement one another. The same impulse that animates the Concretion series is present here as well: confronted with the ephemeral, Cohen seeks to turn time into solid matter, while highlighting its poetic and symbolic characteristics.

As the artist describes them, his sculptures are “a metaphor for sculptural making”, the result of a reflection on the very meaning of this artistic act. In his view, classical sculptors and Old Masters sought to eternalize a moment. The two works placed in the centre of the exhibition space embody his own attempt to solidify transience—whether a fleeting cloud or light passing through glass. Both sculptures foreground tensions between contrasting materials: transparent vs. opaque, fragile vs. resistant (glass and tracing paper vs. onyx and Paraná marble). At times, these materials appear to coalesce; at others, they separate, depending on the viewer’s position. Cohen carefully orchestrates the interaction between them to create optical effects such as light fossilized inside a light bulb or the suggestion of a cloud materializing and then dissolving in air.

Rooted in the legacy of Concrete and Neo-Concrete Art in Brazil, Cohen’s inquiry extends beyond formal research into a psychological experience. His work is conceived and executed with such precision that it seems to generate its own material—or “concrete”—reality. Yet its achievement is also affective: out of structure, harmony, and rhythm, he creates emotion.