Painting and Ceremony Daniel Sturgis on Maxwell Alexandre at David Zwirner, London

Two paintings of gilded frames hang side by side and alone in the central room of the Brazilian painter Maxwell Alexandre’s exhibition 'Pardo é Papel: Close a door to open a window' at David Zwirner’s gallery in London. The paintings are huge, at over three meters high and close to five meters long, and identical. Together they comprise one single work, 'Dois quadros SAMO na parede' (2020). They are part of Alexandre’s 'Novo Poder' (New Power) series and although they are placed midway through this exhibition, they act as both a prologue and a subset of the broader 'Pardo é Pape' exhibition cycle, of which this London presentation is the second iteration