The Nymph and the Pearl

warburguian concerns addressed by Adriana Varejão’s Pratos series

Abstract

The article focuses on the series Pratos, by Adriana Varejão, based on theoretical questions opened by the presence of the image of the Ninfa in the work of theorist and art historian Aby Warburg, as well as the developments thought by the philosopher and art historian French Georges Didi-Huberman. The artworks Pérola Imperfeita, Nascimento de Ondina and Sereias Bêbadas (2009), and Ama divers (2011) by the artist are considered, mainly in dialogue with Plate 39 of Bilderatlas Mnemosyne (1927-1929), by Warburg. Based on this association, Pratos is discussed in view of the overlapping of three issues: the Nachleben der Antike of the pagan gods; Ninfa's Pathosformel; and the possible correspondence between water and Nymph, advancing the hypothesis, central to Warburgian studies, of dissolution between subject and object.