Jonathas de Andrade's New York Solo Exhibition Confronts Labor and Racism in Brazil

Jonathas de Andrade's first solo exhibition in New York ran from February 28 through April 11, 2015 at Alexander and Bonin gallery. The Brazilian artist, based in Recife, presented works including '40 nego bom é um real' (2013) and 'Posters for the Museum of the Man of the Northeast' (2013). These installations combine photography, text, and illustration to examine cheap labor and racial stereotyping in northeastern Brazil. De Andrade's project references the actual Museum of the Man of the Northeast in Recife, founded in 1979 and inspired by anthropologist Gilberto Freyre's writings on racial democracy. The artist used humor and fictional narratives to critique exploitation, placing portraits of brown-skinned workers in an anthropological framework. His work had previously been featured in the Guggenheim's 2014 survey 'Under the Same Sun'. The exhibition included classified ads the artist placed in local newspapers seeking subjects, revealing the constructed nature of representation. Through these methods, de Andrade explores contradictions between artistic practice and social commentary.