Questioning the principle of cataloging, ordering, documenting and interpretating as a basis for the scientific knowledge in the world, Ricardo Angelico (Huambo, Angola, 1973) places in the art work's space a multiplication of a small disjointed narrative fragments, or whose connection is not easily seen. His work has been exhibited throughout Portugal and Spain such as in the exhibitions "Play", "The Aronburg Mystery", Carlos Carvalho Arte Contemporânea, "O Desenho Dito", Casa da Cerca – Centro de Arte Contemporânea, Almada, Portugal, "À volta do papel", Centro de Arte Manuel de Brito, Algés, "Portugal 100 artistas, Acervo. Artistas Portugueses en la Colección Navacerrada", Centro de Arte Alcobendas, Alcobendas, Espanha. His works are held in numerous public and private collections including Culturgest, Lisbon, Portugal, Fundação PLMJ, Lisbon, Portugal, Centro de Arte Manuel de Brito, Algés, Portugal, Colecção Navacerrada, Alcobendas, Spain, Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, Pamplona, Spain.
In the most recent solo exhibition at the Carlos Carvalho gallery, Ricardo Angélico follows the record he has been developing and which focuses on the elaboration of individual compositions with imaginary figures inserted in contexts of action that are often ambiguous. These representations, apparently dissociated from the global scenario, draw small narrative cells, guiding the observer through an intricate network of connections. The underlying reasoning thus does not follow a linear narrative, but rather a combinatorial approach, incorporating quotations, distortions, dynamism and contamination of forms and ideas. In this way, the figuration in Ricardo Angélico's work does not just place us in a specific space, but also guides and crosses axes, absorbing the look at an infinite number of more or less subtle connections. These works can be interpreted as catalogs in constant evolution, presenting multiple graphic incidences, resulting in enigmatic and deconstructive compositions. The composition of images thus rehearses a conscious reinterpretation of the established order of things, seeking to discover new relationships between narratives and making analogies between elements that may seem dissociated. These compositions seek to transcend conventional classifications, promoting an analysis of the affinities between the figures. It is as if the artist set out to do an incessant job of recomposing the world, converting images into resources for analyzing reality. With this way of approaching the composition, the artist understands the work as a window of observation into the modes of representation and formation of knowledge, drawing attention to the way we apprehend things outside of the pre-conceived.
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 120x100cm
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 99,5x70cm
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 120x100cm
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 140x90cm
Oil on linen, 146 x 146 cm
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 140x90cm
Oil on linen, 145 x 183 cm
Mixed media on paper, 55x75cm
Mixed media on paper, 56x60cm
Mixed media on paper, 63 x 55cm
Mixed media on paper, 70x90cm
Mixed media on paper, 48 x 57 cm
Mixed media on paper, 45,5x47,5cm
Mixed media on paper, 126x103 cm
Mixed media on paper, 100x170cm
Mixed media on paper, 120x100cm
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 156x110cm
Like so many other contemporary artists, Ricardo Angélico accepts the Beckettian maxim of “carrying on regardless”, aware that humour emerges through despair. More than being a theatre of the absurd, the “endgame” of modernity turns nihilism into the true honour of thought. Yet this is not a making of a “monumentalisation of the detritus” or of an ad nauseam baptism of ashes, yet it is possible, as is shown in Ángélico’s work, that there may be a sort of (neo) pataphysical painting. According to the pataphysics, language is in no situation to produce a new language within it without all language being taken to its limit: “the limit of language is the Thing in its mutism, the vision"(Gilles Deleuze, 1996).
Fernando Castro Flórez
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 120x100cm
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 70x54,5cm
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 120x100cm
