Arnaldo Pappalardo's Cópia Fiel: A Doorless Gallery in São Paulo's Sumaré Neighborhood

In São Paulo's Sumaré neighborhood, photographer and visual artist Arnaldo Pappalardo (b. 1954) runs Cópia Fiel, a doorless, street-connected gallery space inaugurated in 2021. The space, named after Abbas Kiarostami's film 'Certified Copy,' displays 80 of Pappalardo's photographs selected from thousands, with no limited editions and accessible pricing. Pappalardo, trained in architecture at the University of São Paulo (USP), abandoned architecture to focus on photography, building a career in commercial advertising while maintaining an artistic practice. His work, influenced by his architecture background and mentors Cristiano Mascaro, João Luiz Musa, and Carlos Fajardo, explores urban fragments and the relationship between images. Notable series include 'Tensão Calma' (published by Cosac Naify in 2008), 'Manual de Corte e Costura' (selected for ZUM's 2022 photobook call), 'Coleção de Cacos' (400 small-format macro photographs arranged in a mural, inspired by Aby Warburg's Mnemosyne Atlas), and 'Mundo Flutuante' (an installation using water, fish, and photographic elements, referencing Ukiyo-e and Mira Schendel). Pappalardo's practice challenges the aura of art, referencing Walter Benjamin, and embraces a 'chaosmotic' creative process inspired by Félix Guattari. His work often juxtaposes disparate images to create new narratives, as seen in his photobook 'Manual de Corte e Costura.' The artist, now 71, continues to explore themes of finitude and reinvention through his art.