The works presented in this exhibition from the Collection almost all of them are large pieces, filling the gallery in a way that lends itself to the principle of installation, inherent to three of them.
The green spaces of the title refer to gardens and breathing zones in large cities, but the extension of this idea to woods and forests also emphasises, in our own inner world, the relationship that all living beings establish with one another, either closely or at a distance, in the plant world.
Gabriel Albergaria’s installation sets the tone for this section: referring to the world of trees, it questions the standardised ways of making it, of thinking about leisure and study in a forest context, the handling, transportation, appropriation and human hierarchisation of these places in nature.
The ‘domesticated’ nature in Catarina Leitão’s work is also a critical gaze on the inclusion of vegetation in the city. Rui Vasconcelos shows the very long period of time required to painstakingly fill in a green spot. In Pedro Calapez’s work, grooves in the paint sketch the unstable nocturnal architecture of a forest in the process of dissolution. The perimeter of the trunks in Gil Amourous’ drawing brings a stability to elements that are also very fluid. In the textiles by Ilda David’, the colourful embroidered lines bring to life fleeting and vague plant motifs.
Drawing Room
Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian