Car Wash Animals

About

For his first solo presentation with the gallery, Ricardo Passaporte brings together a series of new paintings that depict close-up portraits of various animals. Engaging with the repetitiveness and impulsivity of graffiti and with references to Outsider Art, the artist draws attention to the hand-drawn, homespun nature of their creation. The inspiration behind each painting derives from various sources and found images, all requesting a certain engagement and competing for our attention. The Lisbon-based artist selects imagery sourced online, from mass media and advertising, from navigating around Google maps in street view and others from physically browsing shop labels and vitrines; many times, even canvas art gems found in thrift stores around Lisbon serve as potential inspiration for his works. Through this exploration, Passaporte highlights the essential role that such images have come to symbolise in our modern world and raises questions to consider the very nature of making art and the dichotomies between the mass-produced and the uniquely singular art object.