Helena Almeida (Lisbon, 1934–2018) produced a singular work during the 1960s, characterised by a profound interest in the body and its central place — that records, occupies and defines space — and its performative encounter with the world. The first abstract canvases by the artist were a critical approach to the limits of the pictorial space and the literal conditions of painting. That interest extended to photography in the 1970s, when the distinctive space of the artist’s studio and of the female body, fragmented and partially obscured, became recurrent presences. Helena Almeida meticulously outlines a choreography in the composition of her works, with drawings and sketches that highlight her use of the colour and the body, an example of which is the work Untitled (1995–95), specifically produced for the artist’s exhibition at the Serralves Villa, in 1995.

Image: Helena Almeida, Sem título, 1994 – 1995. Col. Fundação de Serralves – Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Porto. Aquisição em 1995