French Man Accuses Brazilian Artist of Plagiarism

02/16/2016 - 08h39

A series of sculptures made from brick have become more fragile in critics' eyes since they became the subject of accusations of plagiarism.

Two years ago, Andrey Zignnatto, a former assistant to a mason from Jundiaí, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, made his debut as an artist by creating vast landscapes constructed with cut bricks, structures that conjure images of eroding landscapes.

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	Zignnatto has been accused of plagiarism by the French artist Vincent Mauger

It was not long before his visually overwhelming pieces attracted an influential group of critics, and were featured in exhibitions at the Paço das Artes, the Funarte, the ArtRio fair and the São Paulo gallery Blau Projects, which also represents the artist.

But, Zignnatto has been accused of plagiarism by the French artist Vincent Mauger since December of last year. Mauger has been creating a series of works from cut brick for at least 11 years.

The story gained visibility after the French critic Maxence Alcalde published an article in his blog two months ago attacking Zignnatto and the institutions that show his work.

Mauger didn't know Zignnatto, who also didn't know the French man.

Zignnatto alleges that he never came into contact with the work of those artists or the world of contemporary art until he came up in the circuit.

"I come from a really poor family, my grandfather was a mason and I went to work raising walls with him", Zignnatto recounts. "I was shocked when I saw Vincent's work, even upset. There are numerous similarities, but I developed my work based on what I saw in the factories, how the operators cut the bricks."

Agnaldo Farias, one of the first curators to show Zignnatto's work, defends the artist, noting that there are a lot of cases in history of "coincidences and paths that cross".

Translated by SUGHEY RAMIREZ
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