The places Mateu Velasco knew were turned into distant memories during the pandemic – dreamlike flashes that fed into the visual research for the creation of the body of work of THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE NOWHERE.
Virtual walks on Google Street View, when Velasco couldn't leave home, led him to places that existed in the real world but which were flattened and turned into nowhere within the solitude of the online universe. The representation of these places in his art weaves a common thread related to Velasco’s own history - his citizenship of nowhere: born in NYC, raised in Rio de Janeiro, and a resident of different cities at different times in his life.
Velasco’s choice to animate these pieces stems from the fact that with the passing of time, these memories aren't static anymore. His works are a visual translation of memory frames that sometimes fuse together in a fluid way and sometimes connect more abruptly, much like the experience of scrolling on social media feeds. These fragments of memories, through Velasco’s art, complement each other to become one for the spectator.
This exhibition is a digital exploration of nowhere. A nowhere that welcomes us with warmth and nostalgia into its solitude and emptiness.