Pã sem Flauta

About

The exhibition “Pã sem Flauta” showcases 26 new works from the recent production of artist Antonio Hélio Cabral, continuing his uninterrupted work with painting, which began in the 1970s. The exhibition marks a new partnership with the gallery, which now represents the artist. Created mostly between 2022 and 2024, the selected works open a wide range of possibilities in different directions, without abandoning the irony that is a hallmark of the artist's work, whether in the titles or in the graphics and drawings. The exhibition is curated by Luiz Armando Bagolin.

In vibrant color combinations, the paintings reveal movements of bodies and heads that emerge from the very act of painting. Unlike traditional painting compositions, where the figures are the main elements and are purposely constructed, Cabral gives life to these forms without planning or representative intent, through juxtaposition, agglutination, and overlapping of paint and brushstrokes.

“I think of the figure as derived from the painting. The opposite of this, the painted figure, is everything I do not desire,” says Cabral. “I work the form and the background together. I don't usually center the painting around a figure with a closed imaginary,” he explains. “As I create, other subfigures emerge, disappear, and reappear. So, it’s an imaginary that moves, not fixed to a single image from start to finish,” he adds. “Many times, when the painting is finished, it has absolutely nothing to do with what motivated me to start.”

Literature, philosophy, and mythology are recurring sources of inspiration for Cabral’s work, along with everyday situations that create visual impacts and generate other creative sparks. The painting Pã sem Flauta (2023), which gives the exhibition its name, for instance, references the god of fields, herds, and shepherds in Greek mythology, often depicted with a flute. "This is a painting that turned out to have a pastoral feel, a setting tied to mythological creatures. So, I thought of Pan and made this playful take on Pan without a flute," Cabral comments.

Lótus (2020) comes from an imagined vision of the East. "In the painting, there’s a yellow that's almost pure. Normally, I don't use pure colors, but in this painting, they are used this way. One of the reasons for the title was that, in Eastern culture, the lotus is a flower linked to purity," he says.

Another trigger for the work’s title comes from The Blue Lotus—a color also present in the painting— from The Adventures of Tintin, a series by the Belgian Hergé. The album tells the story of young reporter Tintin and his dog Milu, who are invited to China amid the Japanese invasion of 1931, where Tintin uncovers a plot by Japanese spies and discovers a drug smuggling ring.

The magical touch of Shakespeare’s The Tempest inspired the title of the oil painting Próspero (2023), named after the protagonist of the story. Duke of Milan and a powerful sorcerer, the character is kidnapped by his brother and, in an act of political betrayal, cast onto a deserted island along with his daughter Miranda.

Two works created this year were titled after Italian poets—Leopardi, referencing Giacomo Leopardi, one of Italy’s greatest poets, and Petrarca, referring to Francesco Petrarca, who refined the sonnet form and is also considered the father of Humanism. According to Cabral, the feeling that the first painting evokes is similar to the works of the poet, known for his skepticism, pessimism, and melancholy. “In Petrarca, amidst the tumult of paints, there’s an idea of a near-Renaissance portrait, a classical figure, hence the reference,” he explains.

The collection of works selected for the exhibition also includes older paintings that have never been shown before, such as Fala D. João 13 (2015). It was conceived from poem number 13 in a series of 25 texts written by Cabral in 1995, accompanied by lithographs, which later inspired paintings. “This book is like entering the mind of King João II, one of the great architects of Portuguese navigations, and capturing everything from his impulses to the more calculated actions of how he planned major movements,” Cabral recalls.

Additionally, the public will encounter the paintings Sète (2017), Figura Nácar (2017), Autorretrato (2018), Pan Sírinix (2018), Filo (2020), Ícaro (2020), Silvos (2020), Sabinas (2021), Ponty (2022), six untitled works, Luas, Nácar, Sófia, Io—all from 2023—and Pino (2024).