Pre/Post ― Visual Variations of 25 April

Pre/Post ― Visual Variations of 25 April commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution. More than just a celebration, the exhibition aims to investigate tensions, contradictions, and paradoxical movements that marked the periods immediately prior to and after the Revolution. The exhibition, which spans the period from 1970 to 1977, records how the art world reflected the experiences and feelings that accompanied the revolutionary process, mixed between utopian enthusiasm and muted apprehension. 

Giving visibility to artists and works that are relatively unknown in Portugal, the exhibition offers a unique opportunity to think about this rich but troubled period of Portuguese art history, where the political manifesto could either take on a more pamphleteering dimension or assert itself through works of a more conceptual nature, as a discursive and formal support for the freedoms that were sought for and attained. The exhibition includes over 300 works, spanning media as varied as painting, sculpture, photography, film, engraving, installation, posters and the publishing of books and magazines. We sense therein the seismic presence of multiple representations of the body, often penetrated by challenging political references.

The exhibition is organized and produced by Serralves Foundation and is curated by Miguel von Hafe Pérez.