PT / EN

The concept of island plays a fundamental role in Mónica de Miranda's work, revealing diverse layers of meaning and interpretation. From the outset, being a recurring theme throughout the history of Western culture, the artist dedicates herself to dissecting its contours, denouncing a unique, centralized, male white gaze, while also tapping into the enigmatic and symbolic character with which the island has often been portrayed, frequently representing the border between the known and the unknown, the familiar and the strange. Additionally, the use of the island, seen as an idealized representation of society and politics, symbolizes human struggle against nature and loneliness, often depicted as a wild and exotic place where one can escape from civilization and reconnect with nature. Following this line of thought, the island is understood in these works as a metaphor laden with meaning: it is a place of resistance, where the horizons of ambition reside and where the idea of identity and belonging is questioned.

 

This project intersects the series “Islands”, “A Dance of the Forests”, “Like a Candle in the Wind” and “Archipelago”, revolving around the concept of the Island demonstrating the fluidity and transmutability of the artist's work. In "Island" the island is a place where the horizon is vast and unknown, symbolizing the pursuit of a new reality, a concept that serves the artist to explore the experience of immigration and rejection in Europe. Another variant present in this project is the use of the mirror, which we can see in the series "Mirror Me", projecting not only the dual temporality, that is, the questioning of the past and present, but also affirming a dimension of feminist empowerment that urges visibility in public space. The work of the series "A Dance of the Forests", titled after Wole Soyinka's most recognized piece, also deals with presence, amplifying the body as a subject, a concept used as an instrument of social transformation. The use of the idea of the body-monument, relating the human and the forest, claims the appropriation of nature and space as a manifesto of resistance to give visibility to the black body. Other works as “Like a Candle in the Wind”, presented at ARCOMadrid, are intervened with wax and pigments, enriching the texture and color of the works. Traditionally, the use of these materials is related to the need for preservation, reproducing the active vegetal landscape and, by intervening in the images, representing human action on their environment. Also, it addresses the need of preservation of our declining ecosystems questioning the relationship between natural space and infinite progress.

The different approaches shown in the “Island” project exemplify the complexity of Mónica de Miranda's work, exploring issues of identity, power, and relationship with nature, sharing and seeking futures through creative reflection and imagination.

 

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The Island, 2022
HD video, sound, 37’30’’
Directed by: Mónica de Miranda

Mónica de Miranda is an Angolan/ Portuguese visual artist, photographer, filmmaker, and researcher. The artist’s work is research-based and looks at the convergence of politics, gender, memory and space. Her works typically consist of video, photography and installation and in its expanded forms and on the boundaries between fiction and documentary. Mónica de Miranda has been exhibiting regularly throughout Portugal and internationally in cities such as Madrid, Luanda, London, Houston, Lumbumbashi, Istambul, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Dakar, Casablanca, Addis Abeba, Bamako and São Tomé e Príncipe. Among her many exhibitions we highlight: RE/SISTERS A Lens on Gender and Ecology (Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK, 2023);The Relational Sea (Walker Art Center, USA, 2023); Europa Oxalá (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, France, Portugal, Belgium, 2021-2023); Fotografia Europea Festival (Reggio Emilia, Italy, 2022); Mirages and Deep Time (Municipal Galleries Lisbon, Portugal, 2022); No longer with the memory but with its future (Oratorio di San Ludovico, Venice, 2022); The Island (Autograph, London, UK, 2022); Architecture and Manufacturing (MAAT, Lisbon, 2019); Panorama, (Banco Económico, Luanda, 2019); Doublethink: Doublevision (Pera Museum, Istanbul, 2017); Daqui Pra Frente (Caixa Cultural, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, 2017-2018); MNAC (2015) and Estado Do Mundo (Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 2008). Her work has been shown in biennales such as the Berlin Biennial of Contemporary Art (2022), Bamako Encounters – African Biennale of Photography (Mali, 2015-22), African Cosmologies – Houston Fotofest (USA, 2020-2), Taxidermy of the Future – Biennale de Lubumbashi (DRC, 2019), Thinking about possible futures – Biennale del Sur (Argentina, 2021), OFF Biennial Budapest (Hungary, 2021), Dakar Biennial (Senegal, 2016), Addis Foto Fest (Ethiopia, 2016), 14th Biennial of Architecture Venice (Italy, 2014). Her work is represented in private and public collections such as Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, MNAC,  MAAT, 21c Museum Hotels, Kentucky, USA, Soho House, London, UK and PLMJ, among others. She was nominated for Prix Pictet Photo Award (2016), Novo Banco Photo Prize (2016) and EDP New Artist prize (2019). She will be representing Portugal in Venice Biennial in a collaborative work.

Untitled, A Dance of the Forests, 2022
Print on radiant white paper
230 x 350 cm (87,5x116,5 cm each), Ed. 3

Dressage, 2022
Inkjet print on cotton paper, 75x55 cm, Ed. 4
Mirror me, 2022
Inkjet print on cotton paper, 50 x 75 cm, Ed. 3

Mirror me, 2022
Inkjet print on cotton paper, 50 x 75 cm, Ed. 3

Mirror me, 2022
Inkjet print on cotton paper, 50 x 75 cm, Ed. 3
Mirror me, 2022
Inkjet print on cotton paper, 50 x 75 cm, Ed. 3
Double Force, 2022
Inkjet print on cotton paper, 65 x 100 cm, Ed. 4

Tide, 2022
Inkjet print on cotton paper
70x105 cm, Ed. 4
The bath, 2022
Inkjet print on cotton paper, 250x95 cm, Ed. 3
Candle in the wind, 2015
Wax intervention and pigments onto photo, 40 x 60 cm, Ed. 6
Candle in the wind, 2015
Wax intervention and pigments onto photo, 40 x 60 cm, Ed. 6
Candle in the wind, 2015
Wax intervention and pigments onto photo, 40 x 60 cm, Ed. 6
Candle in the wind, 2015
Wax intervention and pigments onto photo, 40 x 60 cm, Ed. 6
Island (Arquipélago Series), 2016
Inkjet print, 84 x 420 cm, Ed. 3
Island, 2014
Inkjet print, 80 x 100 cm Ed. 3

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