Scenes from a Favela

Maxwell Alexandre’s sprawling, colorful paintings sing odes to Rocinha, the Rio de Janeiro favela where he was raised and currently lives. His work has a sort of Where’s Waldo? quality to it, presenting rich fields of figures huddling, sweating, texting, fighting, living alongside one another. In Close a door to open a window, a person reclining in a luxurious plane cabin sits directly across from two masked men clutching firearms. In Pisando no céu, a girl stands before a wall of Barbie dolls. Dalila retocando meus dreads depicts a barbershop run by police officers, the state holding a literal razor to citizens’ necks. Alexandre’s first show in the United Kingdom, “Pardo é Papel: close a door to open a window,” will open at David Zwirner’s London gallery on November 12 and remain on view through December 19, 2020. A selection of images from the exhibition appears below.

Maxwell Alexandre, Pisando no céu, 2020. © Maxwell Alexandre. Photo: Gabi Carerra. Courtesy the artist, A Gentil Carioca, and David Zwirner.

 

Maxwell Alexandre, If you could die and come back to life, up for air from the swimming pool (detail), 2020. © Maxwell Alexandre. Photo: Gabi Carerra. Courtesy the artist, A Gentil Carioca, and David Zwirner.

 

Maxwell Alexandre, Dalila retocando meus dreads, 2020. © Maxwell Alexandre. Photo: Gabi Carerra. Courtesy the artist, A Gentil Carioca, and David Zwirner.

 

Maxwell Alexandre, Close a door to open a window (setail), 2020. © Maxwell Alexandre. Photo: Gabi Carerra. Courtesy the artist, A Gentil Carioca, and David Zwirner.

 

Maxwell Alexandre, Close a door to open a window (detail), 2020. © Maxwell Alexandre. Photo: Gabi Carerra. Courtesy the artist, A Gentil Carioca, and David Zwirner.

 

Maxwell Alexandre, Close a door to open a window (detail), 2020. © Maxwell Alexandre. Photo: Gabi Carerra. Courtesy the artist, A Gentil Carioca, and David Zwirner.

 

Maxwell Alexandre, Close a door to open a window, 2020. © Maxwell Alexandre. Photo: Gabi Carerra. Courtesy the artist, A Gentil Carioca, and David Zwirner.

 

“Pardo é Papel: close a door to open a window” will be on view at David Zwirner’s London gallery from November 12 through December 19, 2020.