Matheus Rocha Pitta

Eye for an Eye, 2020

Iron, cement, paper, LED light

Variable Dimensions

This artwork is a meditation on social justice. In the recent wave of protests in Chile, in 2019, more than 400 people lost one or both eyes, which was caused by rubber bullets deliberately shot by the police. One of these blinded protesters said in an interview: “What we’ve lost and what we’ve given wasn’t for nothing.” Rocha Pitta’s sculpture is a gigantic, collective eye that aims to stand in the place of this lost eye. An eye for an eye. To what extent are our notions of justice dependent on visibility? Why should justice be blinded to remain just?

Matheus Rocha Pitta. Tiradentes, Brazil, 1980

Lives and works in Berlin and Rio de Janeiro. Studied history and philosophy at the Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, and the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro. His work has been presented internationally in solo and group exhibitions, including at  Kunstverein Hamburg, Germany, 2020; Museu de Arte Moderna in Rio de Janeiro, 2018, Triennial Frestas, São Paulo, Brasil, 2017; El Ranchito, Matadero Madrid, España 2014; The Great Acceleration, 9 Bienal de Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan 2014; Artesur, Collective Fictions, Nouvelles Vagues, Palais de Tokyo, París, Francia, 2013 y Kunst Im Tunnel, Düsseldorf, Alemania, 2013. He was grantee at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2016-17). He is represented in the collections of the Castelo de Rivoli, Turin, and the Museu de Arte Moderna in Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, among others.