Felippe Moraes
Ungido (Anointed), 2011
Gold, nickel, wood, and iron
22 × 1.5 × 9 cm

The sculpture Ungido (2011) begins with a direct gesture, heavily loaded with symbolism. An ordinary hammer, bought at a hardware store, is gold-plated. The action brings literalness and metaphor together, evoking the alchemical tradition of transforming ordinary materials into noble substances. The object comes to operate simultaneously as an everyday artifact and as a sign of symbolic, economic, and almost sacred value, given the importance attributed to this metal across various civilizations throughout history.

The hammer is among the oldest tools developed by humankind, associated with the earliest technical interventions on the environment. It points back to the origins of human labor and to the initial gestures that made it possible to shape matter, build structures, and organize the first centers of civilization. Once coated in gold, this primordial instrument takes on an ambiguous condition. It becomes precious and untouchable, while at the same time losing its practical function as a building tool, shifting from the field of utility into the domain of the symbolic.

The work’s title refers to the ritual of anointing found in pagan and later Christian traditions, in which special substances are applied to consecrate people or objects. Alchemy, often associated with the transformation of metals, also operated as a metaphor for spiritual elevation. In this context, the work uses the simple act of covering an object in gold to reflect on transformation, sacralization, and the attribution of value. Between tool, relic, and sculpture, the work proposes thinking through how a mundane object can be elevated to the status of art.

Selected Exhibitions

• 2018 – Imensurável – CAIXA Cultural Fortaleza (Ceará, Brazil)
• 2013 – Mutatis Mutandis – Largo das Artes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
• 2011 – Construção – Paço das Artes (São Paulo, Brazil)