Theo Michael & Sofia Borges

The Opposite of the Opposite

June 5 – July 3, 2014

Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
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Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
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Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
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Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner
Sofia Borges, Theo Michael, The Opposite of the opposite, Steve Turner Contemporary, Steve Turner

The Opposite of the Opposite, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, June 2014

The Opposite of the Opposite, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, June 2014

The Opposite of the Opposite, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, June 2014

The Opposite of the Opposite, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, June 2014

The Opposite of the Opposite, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, June 2014

The Opposite of the Opposite, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, June 2014

The Opposite of the Opposite, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, June 2014

The Opposite of the Opposite, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, June 2014

The Opposite of the Opposite, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, June 2014

The Opposite of the Opposite, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, June 2014

Theo Michael & Sofia Borges. Fossilized Microscopes, 2014. Ink on pigment print, 39 x 60 inches

Theo Michael. Urge Not to Make Art, 2013. Graphite on paper, 10 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches

Sofia Borges. Theater, or Cave, 2014. Pigment print on cotton paper mounted to Sintra, 47 1/4 x 70 3/4 inches

Sofia Borges. Theater, or Eye, 2014. Pigment print on cotton paper mounted to Sintra, 47 1/4 x 74 inches

Theo Michael. Civilization Anacoluthon, 2012. Graphite on paper, 22 x 30 inches

Theo Michael. Symbolist Farce, 2013. Graphite on paper, 25 1/2 x 39 inches

Theo Michael & Sofia Borges. Thesaurus Fry, 2014. Ink on pigment print, 25 1/2 x 31 inches

Theo Michael. Suck the Antimatter, 2012. Graphite on paper, 27 1/2 x 39 inches

Theo Michael. Someone Sold Your Perspective, 2012. Graphite on paper, 19 3/4 x 23 1/4 inches

Theo Michael. Mirror Based Situation, 2013. Graphite on paper, 12 1/4 x 23 1/4 inches

Sofia Borges. Plato's Cave, 2014. Pigment print on cotton paper mounted to Sintra, 59 x 103 inches

Theo Michael & Sofia Borges. Sulphuric Crosswinds Magnetic Clouds, 2014. Ink on digital print, 19 1/2 x 24 inches

Theo Michael. Too Figurative To Be True, 2012. Graphite on paper, 23 1/2 x 20 3/4 inches

Sofia Borges. cave, people, bear face, drawing, brain or homo sapiens saying hi, 2014. Pigment print on cotton paper mounted to Sintra, 47 1/4 x 70 3/4 inches

Sofia Borges. Before Cave of Plato, 2014. Pigment print on cotton paper mounted to Sintra, 18 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches

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02_Urge To Not Make Art, 2012, 25x26cm, graphite on paper s thumbnail
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05_Civilization Anacoluthon, 2012, 76x56cm, graphite on paper s thumbnail
06_Symbolist Farce, 2013, 100x65cm, graphite on paper thumbnail
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08_Suck The Antimatter, 2012, 100x70cm, graphite on paper thumbnail
09_Someone Sold Your Perspective, 2012, 59x50cm, graphite on paper b thumbnail
10_Mirror Based Situation, 67x31cm, graphite on paper b thumbnail
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13_Too Figurative To Be True, 2012, 53x60cm, graphite on paper s thumbnail
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Steve Turner Contemporary is pleased to present The Opposite of the Opposite, a two-person exhibition featuring drawings by Mexico City-based artist Theo Michael and photographs by São Paulo-based artist Sofia Borges.

Like latter day Dadaists and Taoists, Theo Michael and Sofia Borges seek to disengage art from language so that a viewer can experience a mental state of “no mind.” Their works are visual koans, meant not to make sense but to awaken sensation. To do so, they create images that have no apparent narrative, no traditional reference point and perplexing associations. Their images exist per se, they are open-ended, without conclusions. And while Michael and Borges have the same goal, they use opposite methods to achieve it. Their collaboration is, in itself, unexpected and provocative: Michael creates images from his imagination; they spring directly from the subconscious. By mining the subterranean, chthonic realm, Michael draws enigmatic, non-linguistic imagery—the mystery of the unfamiliar. Working in an opposite manner, Borges photographs existing images and selected objects to create disjunction. For her, the mystery of what is forms the basis for radical juxtapositions and incongruities.

Born in Panorama, Greece in 1978, Mexico City-based Theo Michael studied Fine Art at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Utrecht School of Art and earned an MA in Painting from the Wimbledon School of Art. He has had solo exhibitions at AMP, Athens (2009); Preteen, Mexico City (2013) and OMR, Mexico City (2011 & 2014).

Sofia Borges (born 1984, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) earned a bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from the Universidade de São Paulo in 2008. She has had solo exhibitions at Millan Gallery, São Paulo and OMR, Mexico City (2013). Her work was included in the 30th Bienal de São Paulo (2012) and Imagine Brazil, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2013).