RECOLLECTIONS OF THE ROSE-COLOURED: ANTÓNIO AREAL, JORGE QUEIROZ AND PAULA REGO IN THE COLLECTION OF THE FUNDAÇÃO DE SERRALVES

This exhibition features, for the first time, some of the works of António Areal, Jorge Queiroz and Paula Rego in the Collection of the Fundação de Serralves. The confrontation of these three universes, linked by the common thread of figure and narrative – although subverting reality through the possibility of fiction – reveals a set of imaginaries that may be revisited at the Serralves Villa, a space which is equally and strongly fictionalized by its utopian past.

The works of these three artists could easily be associated with a surrealist ‘library’ as they carry the viewer into an oneiric dimension that transgresses the limits of representation. However, the pieces resist that very possibility in that they are singularly irreducible and elude identification to any paradigm. More than surrealist- influenced, these works are exemplary of those eccentric and unique cases that interested the surrealists.

Along with his visual production, António Areal (Porto, 1934 – Lisbon, 1978) always maintained an active production in the field of art theory and criticism and was always an important reference to other artists, such as Paula Rego. The use of formal solutions hailing from the universe of comic books and graphic art, as well as the references to art history (surrealism, cubism, and action painting) structure works that humorously reflect on painting. This exhibition features two series of drawings, dated from 1968 and 1972. The first series corresponds to works that, while still echoing surrealism, already translate influences from op and pop art and resort to the aforementioned formal compositions associated with graphic arts. Four years later, already removed from the artistic context due to health problems, Areal dedicated himself almost exclusively to drawing. These works are a return to figuration, now allied to the surrealistic matrix that characterizes his work from the 1950s and 1960s; they are more a reflection on such universal themes as the human condition, the eminence of death, than the expression of concerns with self-involved history art or the present political and cultural situation.  

Jorge Queiroz (Lisbon, 1966), uses means as varied as graphite, coloured-pencil, oil pastel, acrylic or gouache in works that display a profusion of figurative and abstract elements that juxtapose, merge or metamorphose to build exuberant fictions, through processes similar to free association, that are foreign to any narrative or storyline.
The fragmented character of Jorge Queiroz’s drawings does not ensue from a deliberate option for the accidental or for the withholding of representational linearity. These works follow an informal set of starting points – from the size of the paper sheets to the spirit pervading the drawing – that unleash an unpredictable visual flow, filled with inflections, leaps or gaps, that are thought and worked in the drawing and as drawing.

Each work by Paula Rego (Lisbon, 1935), one of the most celebrated Portuguese artists, proposes a powerful discourse of images, narratives and topologies that have turned her oeuvre into a singular instance of authorship in the art of our time. Drawing is a structuring element in this trajectory, translating her interest in combining different universes, intensified as she juxtaposes erudite and popular art, daily life and exceptional events. The sources of this storytelling are rooted in childhood memories but they transcend the merely biographical to embrace the literary works of Eça de Queiroz, Franz Kafka, Charlotte Brontë and others. She is influenced by oral narratives heard both in the domestic and public space. Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro’s burlesque captivates her and she is interested in folk stories and their endless variations. ‘However, the artist never merely illustrates events or the situations that serve as her points of departure. Rather, the books and stories that act as sources function intertextually.’ 

Guided tours
16 APR (Sat), 15h30 by Ricardo Nicolau (exclusive for Serralves’ Friends)
28 APR (Thu), 18h30 by João Fernandes
02 JUN (Thu), 18h30 by Marta Moreira de Almeida

Curators: João Fernandes
Production: Fundação de Serralves

We are sorry to inform that the Villa is closed from 7th to 10th of June.
We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for you understanding.