Introduction

Esther Schipper is pleased to present historical works by Jacques Douchez and Norberto Nicola, organized with Olivier Renaud-Clément.

Jacques Douchez and Norberto Nicola operated a collective studio, Atelier Douchez-Nicola, from 1959-1980. Inspired by tapestry as a three-dimensional form that combines finely woven natural fibers with abstract sculptural forms, their collaborative and independent textile work marks a key chapter in Brazilian art history. Inspired by his extensive travels, Nicola’s work often combines techniques and materials of indigenous cultures with those of European handicraft. For his part, Douchez’s dedication to abstraction is evident in balanced geometric constructions.

Central to Norberto Nicola’s textile practice are the qualities of flexibility, tension, and elasticity, which the artist sought to capture in his work, as well as the use of mixed media. In addition to drawing on his training as an abstract painter, works by Nicola demonstrate the importance of intuition and touch. Sourcing all materials from within Brazil, Nicola studied techniques and gathered natural fibers used by different indigenous communities throughout the country. He was a particularly passionate student of the feather art of indigenous communities of the Amazon, such as the Urubu-Kaapor and Tapirapé. He found resonance both in the color palettes used in feather art, which echo those of the Brazilian landscape, and in their broad functions that transcended mere decoration. Works such as Descobrimento (Discovery, 1980s) and Rebentos da Noite (Sprouts of the Night, 1986) conjure up images of verdant jungle, damp soil and fragile new growth. 

For Jacques Douchez, artistic tapestry combines his early fascination with the medieval textile arts of Cluny and the conceptual and technical rigor learned in painter Samson Flexor’s highly influential Atelier-Abstração. Untitled (1970s) is characteristic of this: its brooding color palette offset by careful construction and daring slits that evoke the work of abstractionist contemporaries such as Lucio Fontana. In Untitled (1973) Douchez’s inclinations towards mathematics and balanced composition are clearly on display. While the colors reference the lush flora of Brazil, the work is laid out on a rigorous geometric grid and the irregular organic forms are strictly confined within two harmonious spheres.

The joint studio Atelier Douchez-Nicola represented a significant step in the development of contemporary art in Brazil. In conversation with international innovators such as Magdalena Abakanowicz and Jagoda Buić Douchez and Nicola broke with local and Western tradition to create three-dimensional tapestries. Texture, mixed media, and intentional incisions complement the artists’ painterly skills of color and line, creating a whole new kind of “woven object” as the artists’ referred to their works in their 1969 manifesto Formas Tecidas (Woven Forms).

We thank Gomide&Co for their generous collaboration on this project.