Vicente Mello: the memory of the light from the wrong side

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the pieces of two individual exhibitions of the photographer Vicente de Mello that took place simultaneously in Rio de Janeiro in 2018: In Orbit, displayed between May 25th and August 6th at Lurixs Gallery, and curated by Ivo Mesquita; and Monolux, exhibited at MAM between March 17th and September 9th, curated by Eucanaã Ferraz. We explain how the artist's poetics raises deep questions regarding the relations between the image and its referent, in addition to triggering the mnemonic and collecting feature that surrounds the
photographic medium. We draw a dialogue of the artist's work with some of the most prestigious
strands of contemporary photography, underlining the conceptual character that permeates his work
and tracing parallels with photography theorists.