Anna Menezes’ sculptural photography

Is it that important to define the limits between photography and sculpture? Anna Menezes’ work could be considered as a reflection on this issue. The artist’s “constructed trails” series subverts the logic of eye movement. Bricks are associated with fixed things, such as the construction of edifices. On the contrary Anna Menezes chose to print on bricks images of boys who run and play on the beach, that is, people in motion.

The artist deals with several interesting issues in this series, from the choice of material, the shape of the bricks, the images and the type of printing to the position from which we observe her work. It is an exercise in looking beyond traditional categories. Modern art broke with many of the traditional parameters linked to the notion of beauty, perfection and the sublime. Photography followed the same path in the choice of materials and artistic practices.

Art historians created categories as a way to facilitate the understanding of artists’ experiences in painting, drawing, sculpture and photography. However, these categories were already obsolete in the second half of the 20th century, when artistic processes were already mingling in such a way that it was no longer possible to identify the primary language.

However, new perceptions surge as a result of challenging these categories. In arts, movements of rupture, subversion and contest resulted in new approaches. Anna Menezes’ work is an example of this process.