Pedro Calapez

Portuguese contemporary artist

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From the low valleys

Galerie Seippel - Köln

01/09/2015 - 17/10/2015

[ENG]

from the low valleys

“If the painter wishes to see beautiful things which will enchant him he is able to beget them; if he wishes to see monstrous things which terrify, or grotesque and laughable things, or truly piteous things, he can dispose of all these; if he wishes to evoke places and deserts, shady or dark retreats in the hot season, he represents them, and likewise warm places in the cold season. If he wishes valleys, if he wishes to descry a great plain from the high summits of the mountains, and if he wishes after this to see the horizon of the sea, he can do so; and from the low valleys he can gaze on the high mountains, or from the high mountains he can scan the low valleys and shores; and in truth all quantities of things that exist in the universe, either real or imaginary, he has first in his mind and then in his hands; and these things are of so great excellence that they beget a harmonious concord in one glance, as do the things of nature.”
Excerpt From: Leonardo da Vinci. “Thoughts on Art and Life.” IBooks.

Imagine a nameless place without GPS coordinates.
I’m on a valley and my gaze follows the surrounding mountaintops.
Following the mountainside paths I slowly climb.
The goal is clear though going beyond the mountains is, at first sight, predictable. Nevertheless my destiny is uncertain. Other valleys, quiet spots, as the one I’ve just left, alert me for a voyage that hasn’t started here. I know I come from different valleys and have seen similar skies and disturbed clouds. I’ve walked countless sidewalks like these before. I travel however in permanent wandering, around the persistence of a gaze.
Drifting destiny. Searching with no pursue.
My mind wanders with details, scrutinising attributes. I remember the hill and halfway up, the house. Living room and rooms hide from my sight. I imagine walls. Pondering about distances I realize depths.
Walls collapse in the forbidden areas…
My gaze makes a curtain weave, its edges as an undefined architecture.
I reposition myself.

“curtain” directs our gaze towards multiple points of view, always searching for what’s beyond the overlapping black lines on the foreground. Immediately we find ourselves comparing distances, depths.
The painting “from afar” longs to compensate the gaze delays by proposing something very solid: a set of panels, spreading throughout the wall. These panels have volumes and they appear as if they were coming out of the wall in different depths. The painted surfaces renew a liking for the materiality of colour and reinforce the illusion of spatiality that arises from a landscape.
“Off-limits” and “Round” establish a site for objectified paintings.
“Todo”, “Todo o corpo” and “horizonte encruzado” remind us of the stretched visual field.
Diametrically opposed, in terms of materials, support or structure, the works “curtain” and “from afar” challenge the spectator’s forbearance asking his acceptance of the gaze’s erratic flow.
“My landscape is your landscape” when we accept troubled clouds and low valleys (or according to Portuguese artist and art critic Ernesto de Sousa “your body is my body”) first in our minds and right away in our hands.

 

[PT]

Dos baixos vales

“Se o pintor tem vontade de ver coisas bonitas que o encantem, ele consegue criá-las; se quiser ver coisas monstruosas que aterrorizam, ou coisas grotescas e divertidas, ou coisas verdadeiramente lamentáveis, ele alcança tudo isso; se quiser evocar lugares, desertos, ou escuros e sombrios refúgios na estação quente, ele representa-os, assim como lugares quentes nas estações frias. Se desejar vales, descrever uma planície desde os altos cumes das montanhas e depois disto ver a linha do horizonte no mar, ele também o consegue fazer; ele consegue dos baixos vales olhar as altas montanhas, ou das altas montanhas perscrutar os baixos vales ou a linha de costa; e na verdade, de tudo o que existe no Universo, seja real ou imaginário, ele vê primeiro na sua mente e depois nas suas mãos; e estas coisas são tão especiais que criam um acordo harmonioso num único olhar, como tudo o que acontece na natureza.
Excerto de: Leonardo da Vinci, “Pensamentos sobre a arte a vida”, Ibooks

Imaginemos um local sem nome, nem coordenadas GPS.
Estou num vale e o meu olhar percorre os cumes que o rodeiam.
Sigo os trilhos na encosta, subindo lentamente.
O objectivo de ir para além das montanhas é claro, apesar da sua previsibilidade. O destino é no entanto incerto. Outros vales, tranquilos recantos como aquele que agora deixei alertam-me para a viagem que não começou aqui. Sei que venho de outras montanhas e já vi parecidos céus e perturbadas nuvens. Percorri inúmeras veredas com trilhos como este.
Viajo contudo em deambulação permanente em torno da persistência de um olhar.
Destino errante. Procura sem procurar.
O meu pensamento ocupa-se com pormenores, escrutinando detalhes. Relembro a encosta e nela a casa. Escondem-se as salas, os quartos. Imagino as paredes. Proponho distâncias, revelam-se profundidades.
As paredes desmoronam-se nas zonas proibidas…
Uma cortina agita-se perante o meu olhar movendo arestas de uma arquitetura indefinida.
Reposiciono-me no espaço.

 

Com o desenho “curtain” encaminhamos o nosso olhar por múltiplos pontos de vista sempre tentando descobrir o que se encontra para além das sobrepostas linhas negras que ocupam o primeiro plano. Estamos de imediato a comparar distâncias, funduras.

A pintura “ from afar” pretende compensar as hesitações do nosso olhar através de algo concreto: um conjunto de painéis espalha-se ao longo da parede. Não são painéis planos mas em volume, como que saindo da parede em diferentes profundidades. As superfícies pintadas renovam o gosto pela materialidade da cor e pela ilusão de espacialidade que a paisagem em nós suscita.

“Off-limits” e “Round” estabelecem o lugar dos objecto-pintura.
“Todo”, “Todo o corpo” e “Horizonte encruzado” relembram o estiramento do campo visual.
Diametralmente opostas, em termos de materiais, suporte ou estrutura, “curtain” e “from afar” propõem desafiar a tolerância do espectador pedindo-lhe que aceite o errático fluir do olhar.
“A minha paisagem é a tua paisagem” quando aceitamos nuvens enroladas e baixos vales (já antes disse Ernesto de Sousa:“your body is my body”), primeiro na nossa mente e logo nas nossas mãos.

Pedro Calapez

Pedro Calapez, Lisbon based artist, began taking part in exhibitions in the seventies (and hasn't stopped since...) About Pedro

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