Curators’ Series #10. Greater than the Sum by Kunsthalle Lissabon

About

It presents works by artists André Guedes, Diogo Evangelista, Mounira Al Solh, Céline Condorelli & Amalia Pica, Jonathas de Andrade and Laure Prouvost.

Greater than the Sum is a pan-European collaboration departing from Kunsthalle Lissabon’s original and dynamic curatorial approach; which places ‘radical hospitality’ – defined as sociability, solidarity and generosity – at the core of the institution.

The exhibition revisits some of the close collaborations with artists that have shaped their programme. The six installations present ideas of friendship, community and playfulness, and many are themselves products of collaborations.

The exhibition opens with an installation by Turner Prize winning French artist Laure Prouvost. A table set with hand-made ceramics invites viewers to join Prouvost’s surreal, fantastical afternoon tea. This intimate domestic encounter is rendered in Prouvost’s characteristic naïf aesthetic and surreal humour.

Portuguese artist Diogo Evangelista presents a playful pastoral installation of cut-out figures taken from vintage Nudist magazines, which dance and play musical instruments in front of a giant lunar eclipse. No Future in That Place, 2012, was first presented in Lisbon at Parkour gallery, and points to the artist’s interest in utopian counter-cultures that emphasise communality, union and joy.

André Guedes’ installation Nova Árgea, 2012, refers to the history of the 1974 agricultural co-operative ‘A Comunal’. Founded by urban intellectuals in the Portuguese village Árgea, the movement aimed to use revolutionary socialist principals of exchange to create a “cultural dynamism” among the rural proletatiat. Guedes’ work tells through slides and voice-over the story of a fictional contemporary co-operative inspired by the movement.

A new collaboration by artists Céline Condorelli and Amalia Pica invites viewers to scale a ‘ladder’ work by the former – The Double And The Half (to Avery Gordon), 2014, – in order to closely examine three drawings by the latter – Joy in paperwork #148, 156 & 158, 2016. Pica’s series Joy in paperwork uses bureaucratic stamps in different European languages (‘Vertraulich’, ‘Enviado’, ‘PAID’ etc) to create exuberant graphic compositions on paper. Like much of Pica’s work, it playfully questions structures of communication and translation. Condorelli’s ongoing research into friendship and collaboration has been at the centre of her practice for over a decade. Like many of her works, this architectural installation is dedicated to a personal friend, in this instance American sociologist Avery Gordon, with whom she published an extended conversation about friendship The Company She Keeps, 2013.

Brazilian artist Jonathas de Andrade presents 2 em 1 (‘2 in 1’), 2010, a wall-based work illustrating through a multiple photographs and drawings how to convert two single beds into one double. The prosaic, pragmatic tone of the ‘manual’ humorously contrasts with the inferred symbol of romantic or erotic union.

Lebanese artist Mounira Al Solh’s five-channel video installation shows five scenes of friends or family drinking together. Performed by the artist’s own friends, the situations reveal moments of intimacy, aggression and physical interaction, which become increasingly intense as the protagonists become increasingly inebriated.

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ABOUT 

DRAF Curators’ Series supports independent curators by commissioning special research-based projects, considering the curator as an author. Following Arcadia Missa in 2016, this is the second invitation in the series to a space rather than an individual curator. Over the last decade, previous guest curators have included Cylena Simonds (UK), Raimundas Malasauskas (Lithuania), Mihnea Mircan (Romania), Mathieu Copeland (UK), Simone Menegoi & Chris Sharp (Italy and US), Pablo Leon de la Barra (Mexico), Vivian Ziherl (Australia) & Natasha Ginwala (India), Christine Eyene (France/Cameroon) and Arcadia Missa (London).

The Curators’ Series is supported by Arts Council England. Greater than the Sum is supported by Gulbenkian Foundation and the Camões Institute.

Kunsthalle Lissabon was founded in 2009 by Portuguese curators João Mourão (Alegrete, 1975) and Luis Silva (Lisbon, 1978). Kunsthalle Lissabon presents an original and dynamic programme in Lisbon, according to three principles: i) an ideological proximity to what has been defined as institutional critique and also to the later concept of new institutionalism; ii) a DIY ethics and aesthetics, caused by the current economic climate and that allows for fluidity, agility and speed of action and, most of all, for autonomy and independence from a more commercial approach; iii) a practice of close collaboration with artists. It has presented projects by artists including Céline Condorelli, Jacopo Miliani, Jonathas de Andrade, Patrizio di Massimo, Mariana Castillo Debal, Amalia Pica, Pilvi Takala and Ahmet Ogut.

João Mourão and Luís Silva are also contributing editors of CURAmagazine and co-editors of the ongoing book series Performing the Institution(al), addressing recent developments in institutional practice. They were the curators of ZONA MACO SUR (2015 – 2017), the solo projects section of Mexico City’s contemporary art fair, and are curating Artissima’s new section Desegni, dedicated to recent developments in drawing. João Mourão was previously Head of Contemporary Art, City of Lisbon (2010 – 2016) and Luis Silva was General Coordinator and Curator: Galeria Miguel Nabinho, Lisbon (2003 – 2009) and Rhizome Curatorial Fellow at The New Museum, New York (2008).

ARTISTS

Mounira Al Solh (b. 1978, Lebanon) grew up in Beirut during the civil war and lives currently in the Netherlands and in Lebanon. She is an artist who works with video and video installations, painting and drawing, embroidery, performative gestures and publishes with collaborators NOA magazine, that can only be read by appointment. Irony and self-reflectivity are central strategies of her work, which touches upon feminist issues and patterns of micro history, and is furthermore socially engaged, whilst it can be political and escapist all at once. Al Solh studied painting at the Lebanese University in Beirut, and Fine Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Her work has been displayed at the Venice Biennial in 2015 and as part of the Lebanese Pavilion in 2007. Her solo shows include Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut; Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon; Art in General, New York; CCA, Glasgow; and the Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam among other places. Group shows include Documenta 14 in Athens and in Kassel; The New Museum’s Triennial, New York; Homeworks IV and V in Beirut; Haus Der Kunst, Munich; Manifesta 8, Murcia, Spain; The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai; Al Riwaq Art Space, Manama, Bahrain; Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin and the 11th International Istanbul Biennial. Most recently in 2015, she has been shortlisted for the Abraaj Group Art Prize in Dubai. Al Solh is represented by Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut & Hamburg.

Céline Condorelli (b. 1974, France) is a London-based artist who makes supporting structures; she is currently Professor at NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) Milan, and one of the founding directors of Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK; she was the author and editor of Support Structures published by Sternberg Press (2009).

Recent exhibitions include Gwangju Biennale; Liverpool Biennial; Sydney Biennial; Concrete Distractions, Kunsthalle Lissabon (2016); bau bau, HangarBicocca, Milan, Italy (2015); Céline Condorelli, Chisenhale Gallery, London; Positions, Van Abbemuseum, Netherlands; and the publication The Company She Keeps, with Bookworks (2014). Previous exhibitions include baubau, Museum of Contemporary Art, Leipzig; (as curator) Puppet Show, Eastside Projects, Gävle Konstcentrum and Grundy Art Gallery (2014); Additionals, Project Art Centre, Dublin, Ireland, Things That Go Without Saying, Grazer Kunstverein, Austria; The Parliament, ‘Archive of Disobedience’, Castello di Rivoli, Italy (2013); Surrounded by the Uninhabitable, SALT Istanbul (2012).

Jonathas de Andrade (b. 1982, Brazil) lives in Recife, Brazil, and works with installations, videos and photo-researches. Recent exhibitions include 13th Sharjah Biennial; 32nd Bienal de São Paulo; Under the Same Sun, Guggenheim, New York; 11th Dakar Biennial, Senegal; 12e Biennale de Lyon, France; 2nd New Museum Triennial, The Ungovernables, New York; 12th Istanbul Biennial; 29th Bienal de São Paulo; 7th Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil; 32 Panorama da Arte Brasileira, MAM-São Paulo; The Right to the City, Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam; Better Homes, Sculpture Center Long Island City, New York; Tropikalizmy, Gdask City Gallery, Poland; When Attitudes Became Form Become Attitudes, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco; The Insides are on the Outside, Casa de Vidro e SESC Pompéia, São Paulo.

Diogo Evangelista (b. 1984, Portugal) lives and works in Lisbon. With a multidisciplinary practice, his work revolves around themes of desire and transformation, exploring the animist potential that the human imagination has to appropriate concepts, images and environments.

Evangelista graduated in Fine Arts from the Lisbon University School of Fine Arts in 2008. Recent exhibitions include: Utopia/Dystopia, MAAT, Lisbon (2017); The Eighth Climate (What Does Art Do?), 11th Gwangju Biennale, (2016);  Hyperconnected, 5th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow (2016); Matter Fictions, Berardo Collection Museum , Lisbon, (2016); Magician’s Right Hand, Futura, Prague (2016); Hybridize or Disappear, Museu do Chiado – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon (2015); Grotto-Heavens, CAC, Vilnius (2014); BES Revelação, Serralves Museum, Oporto, Portugal (2014).

André Guedes (b. 1971, Portugal) advances in his work a social and political critique, exploring subjects (upon researching historic and literary themes) and information (Guedes often incorporates documentation in his artwork) as his artistic media, leading to installations, performances, stage sets and urban interventions.

Selected solo exhibitions include Pavilhão Branco, Lisbon (2017); Vera Cortês Gallery, Lisbon (2015); Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon (2014); Galerie Crevecoeur, Paris (2013 and 2010); Phakt, Rennes, France (2012); The Bluecoat, Liverpool, UK (2009). Group exhibitions include Démocratie, Tripod, France; I’m not here. An exhibition without Francis Alys, De Appel, Amsterdam (2010); World Question Centre, Athens Biennale (2009); and The Final Cut, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2005). He has also worked extensively in theatre and performing arts.

Amalia Pica (b. 1978, Argentina) lives and works in London. Her work includes sculpture, photography, installation and performance and frequently relates to her interest in communication. Recent solo exhibitions include Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the List Visual Arts Center MIT Cambridge, Massachusets, USA; the Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; and Under the Same Sun: Art from Latin America Today, South London Gallery, London and Guggenheim, New York. Forthcoming exhibitions include The Power Plant, Toronto and Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.

Laure Prouvost (b. 1986, France) lives and works between Sawnsea and Molenbeck. She practices making video, sons, sounds and daughter, ob-jects and installation………………….here a long list of solo museum and institu- tions shows ……..here a long list of group shows. a line, interesting things, a coma, a line, a list of residencies and prizes. A Se- lection of solo projects including: a New Museum for Grand dad in Milano, A tearoom for grand ma in Derry, a karaoke room in Brussels, a new octopus ink vodka bar for Gregor in Rotterdam, A travel agency for an Uncle in Frankfurt, a lobby for love among the artists in the Hague and Luzern, tea bags, and wet floors.