Brazilian Artist Lygia Pape A Multitude of Forms at Met Breuer

This is the first retrospective of Lygia Pape's (b Brazil 1927-2004) work in the US.   This dynamic show is so expansive, explosive and it's not possible for my observations to be inclusive of the expanse of her work.  It's important to have some background on Pape who was self-taught.  Her curiosity & experimentation was continuous.  She ventured into performance arts, filmmaking, sculpture, print making, engraving, photography, painting, paper structures, installations, poetry & much more.  She also explored the Amazon's rain forest to study & photograph  indigenous tribes.  Pape, never traveled outside her native country.  She worked during Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-1985.)  Many of her contemporaries exiled themselves or served time in prison.  Pape was imprisoned for a short period. Regarding her work, there is a strong reliance on geometric structures.  Pape often utilized boxes & square shapes.  Her thinking is outside the box.  The numerous references to squares & cubist forms show similarities & disparities. "Livro do Tempo" (Book of Time) covers an entire wall with 365 equal but diverse squares; varying in color & arranged shapes.  This reads as a data printout, a passage of time or as just another cog in the wall.  These rigid yet variable geometrical formations are found elsewhere.  Note the 3 large white squares with varying configurations of identically shaped black cubes.  There is also an installation with 2 rows of equanimous squares of the same grey, yellow, white, black palette with varying patterns.  Pape work reflects the multitudes of racial & cultural ethnicities that shape her nation.  The entrance to the exhibit is a massive, photograph mural of children of various race.   Just their faces poke through slits in a large, connected white sheet.   A video of young adults are seen connected in the same manner  with only heads extruding.  Here the film shows the configuration moving backwards & forwards in an undulating unity.  The most magnificient piece in the show is a staging of "Divisor."  An entire darkened room contains iridescent golden threads from floor to ceiling.  This ephemeral  work radiates as rays of light shimming through a dense forest.  Look closely at the base and you'll notice that they all stem from a square shape.  Lygia Pape's conceptual asks a lot of the viewer and provides plenty for  you to consider.