Michel Foucault in The Order of Things
We see Giuliana, her back to us, wearing a green coat. We see factories. We see excrement. We see Giuliana living in a furnished apartment, replete with hi-tech appliances. We see Giuliana’s unfin-ished shop, where she does not know what she is going to sell. In this shop we see half-painted walls. We see Corrado, a long-time friend of Ugo, Giuliana’s husband. We see an abstract image in shades of white which turns out to be a wall. We see a wall which turns out to be an abstract image in shades of white.
As we see all this and more – the saturation and denaturalisation of colour, the suspended figures, objects with the dramatic weight of characters – we realise that Red Desert (Il Deserto Rosso, 1964) by Michelangelo Antonioni is a film about disquiet, suffocation and malaise. We know it because we see it.
This is the first colour film by the Italian filmmaker, who until 1963 had always opted for black and white. Initially entitled Celeste e Verde (Sky Blue and Green), Red Desert integrated colour as an element of the visual language of cinema, rather than as a mere technological prop.
Giuliana wanders through an industrial landscape, a landscape choked by rubbish and smoke, an automated landscape that suffo-cates the character within a thick void (desert?) of colours.
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On numerous occasions Antonioni was forced to deny that there was any symbolism in the colours used.
As in abstract painting, in Red Desert (a painted film, described as such by the director) colour, lines, form and texture are not made subject to representation and its mimetic purposes, but instead escape the diktats of that which can be said. Thus, as Michel Foucault writes in The Order of Things, the relation of language to painting is an infinite relation, as “neither can be reduced to the other’s terms: it is in vain that we say what we see; what we see never resides in what we say”
(Foucault, Vintage Books Edition, Random House Inc, April 1994).
For centuries the issues surrounding painting arose from the question about the degree to which truth could be conveyed through the images, but today the issue is not couched in terms of truth or untruth, but rather centre around the fact that artistic creations no longer represent or ostensibly make reference to the real (as argued by neo-representational theories of art), but rather form what is real themselves. Painting exists. And we know what we know about it because we see it.
The changes happened dizzyingly fast; while painting and sculpture were the medium par excellence of the arts, or at least the Fine Arts (as opposed to the decorative arts) up until the 20th century, from then on the range of media and materials used expanded in such a way that if we were to try to list all the possible media today, they would coincide with everything that exists on Earth, or can be produced. The same can be said of themes (the question is posed in a negative rather than positive way – what can art not address?) and the pose of relating
to reality. Representation, or mimesis, has ceased to be an obsession, and there is no longer an obligation for art to be representative, at least in its relationship with verisimilitude; knowing what art is about is no longer essential.
The existence of a hierarchy between seeing and knowing is an issue that cuts through the history of ideas and thought (as well as art his-tory), as there is a tradition that identifies an antagonistic relationship between both processes – irreconcilable like the verbal and the visual, as Foucault would have it, since neither can be translated in terms of the other. This dichotomy, first identified by Plato, puts the onus on illusion, fantasy and deception in the act of looking. This contention has been taken up by numerous writers and has gathered new impetus in the modern day, which is predominantly visual, and where the excess of images demands a new axiology of looking. Images (including paintings) are producing cultural meaning, and the contemporary artist has new responsibilities in this process. Painting has thus come to renegotiate its territory, extending it beyond the field of the representational and visual, to the very conditions of visuality itself.
According to this line of thought, the gaze is not an obstacle, but rather a tool that can generate knowledge, a specific kind of knowl-edge that allows us to discuss what is seen through what is seen.
Painting exists because before it was gaze. And in taking on its own ontology as a theme, it escapes a death (poorly) foretold.
The work of Pedro Calapez is a particularly pertinent demonstration of the way in which contemporary painting’s vocation is in the act of being, and shows what it was once (and how it was) the painter’s
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gaze. Of course, looking and seeing cannot be considered equivalent structures of action, but rather successive: the gaze is the directed gesture that activates the process of seeing beyond its biological functions. Painting therefore often becomes an act of indecency, in which the painter shows what he sees. In Calapez’s work we see a gaze in motion, albeit suspended in time and space, that encounters the gaze of the other – gazes in transit, gazes in collision.
The works that are being shown in this exhibition entitled About the little space between things at the Galeria Nova Ogiva in Óbidos reveal a set of concerns that are a constant feature in the artist’s work – spatial relationships and the landscape – but it is his concern with the ways of seeing, as both instrument and matter, that forms the main thread that runs through his work. A unique way of seeing primarily mani-fests itself in the positioning of the works throughout the exhibition space – the old Ogiva Gallery designed and founded by the sculptor José Aurélio in 1970. In a relationship that appears to be anterior to the exercise of the exhibition, the space and the pieces seem to take on a syncretic nature, so that not only it appears that there is little space between the objects, but also that the space is hidden inside the works – not to disappear, but tacitly forming part of it.
The compositional plays proposed by the artist in the body of work presented here are not only noticeable in each individual work, but in a series of exercises that result in an architectural unity. Given that architecture is, sensu lato, the modifications and alterations made to a particular surface with the aim of compensating for a shortage, we can discern three architectural approaches in dialogue within this exhibi-tion – the architecture of the gaze, the architecture of the exhibiexhibi-tion
and the architecture of the space – which respect the essential nature of each one. However, a mutually agreeable relationship is formed between them and gives them a status as a unit.
A panoramic look over the exhibition reveals a eurhythmy, a metric and angular compatibility that makes the pieces follow the horizontal and vertical elements of the space in which they are displayed. Yet that is not all – the visual layout is constantly being challenged, and that challenge forces the viewer to try out standing closer and further away, first becoming aware of an earlier choreography which guides the movement in the space, albeit in a flexible way, and then realising that there are myriad ways of seeing the same work.
These exercises in seeking (and discovery) reveal the existence of a pedagogy of seeing which, neither didactic nor playful, encourages an awareness of the possibilities of the gaze. The layout of the exhibition compels to movement which is declined constantly in contemplation and performance. Some works (such as Derrube #9576 and Barreira
#c) confront the viewer, sometimes with the violence of an imposed intimacy, playing with closeness in different ways. Others, such as Flutuante, instead appear as objects of desire – a desire that can only be sated by a gaze (from afar). For this reason there is a strong performa-tive element in Calapez’s paintings, and this requires an acperforma-tive posture on the part of the viewer: the space is transformed into a venue for a guided visual praxis.
Since the start of his work as an artist, which has always been marked by the plasticity of colour, Pedro Calapez has proposed visual equa-tions in which the spatial relaequa-tionships and different dimensions (and
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possibilities) of the field of vision have been constants. It is no mere coincidence that the landscape, which is always nature as it is seen, occupies a prominent place in the artist’s pictorial compositions.
The work of Calapez serves almost as a mirror. As we gaze into it we recognise in the surface facing us the very same action that we are making at that moment: looking, a look that extends far beyond the biological function of seeing. We feel tempted to look for those earlier eyes that saw what we are now being shown. In seeing the amazement of our discovery reflected upon these surfaces, the notions of what is abstract and concrete become confused, so that we can discern a presence within the absence in the piece. This is another of the virtues of Calapez’s work – it allows us to recognise abstract expressions in a concrete structure which unravel into a certain corporeity of abstraction. Having made those caveats, this recognition bears some similarities to the Lacanian “mirror stadium”. The viewer discovers a new subjectivity in his reflected action, the epiphanic moment of a new function of the self: the ability to see the vision.
Curiously, for Lacan the emergence of this reflex causes the subject, in thrall to spatial identification, to have a series of fantasies which stem from a fragmented body image, and the mental development of the individual is based on the bringing together of those fragments.
Both the fragment and the unifying process which follows it, accord-ing to Lacanian theory, play a leadaccord-ing role within the work of Calapez.
The canvas, the ultimate painting surface, is not only substituted by modules in the majority of his work, but these also make a frequent appearance in different pieces, fragments of shape and colour, and it is when all these fragments are brought together that the viewer can grasp the main motif of each composition.
Colour, in its plastic autonomy, is undoubtedly one of the major features of the artist’s work. His focus on colour is not, however, due to any aim other than the ontology of colour, which in his works is a repository for synesthetic experiences. Neither is it the result of a random exercise that would limit the need for the material. Proof of this is the panel of thirty-three drawings on paper, entitled Espaço entre as coisas (Space between things), in which the artist shows preliminary exercises using different colour dynamics.
In Calapez’s work colours show objects, words, smells and sounds, which become abstract through their excessively concrete nature.
The use of colour is so dominant that the artist presents a kind of phe-nomenological synthesis of their chromatic activity in Cinco comentários sobre a cor (Five comments on colour). The key point about this piece is the medium chosen by the artist: video. Marking a departure from the rest of his work, here video creates the necessary distance for reflection about (his) painting. Changing the device for visual generation estab-lishes a boundary (however tenuous) between theme and form.
Thousands of images are presented over 19 minutes, showing details from works by the artist, accompanied by five moments of sound.
The sound, by Manuel Calapez, gives these moving images a syncopated, hard and uncomfortable feel, challenging the viewer’s perception. There is something terribly organic about this conjugation of sound, image and movement, making us retreat into ourselves and become conscious of the dynamic of the scoping process, as a major dimension of the sensory experience. But that is not its greatest virtue:
in Cinco comentários sobre a cor we encounter an instance in which a painting is said.
The work of Pedro Calapez reflects on the very condition of the image in the present day, through the image itself. It is meta- -reflexive (without being meta-painting) and challenges the current visual order, while establishing a dialectic relationship with other images that come both before and after it, without these having any holistic or consensual provisions. Calapez’s work is analytical and cannot be squared with the logic of immediacy, but only as mediation in the form of a critical appropriation of the real, making us reawaken our belief not only in our gaze, but also in the possibilities that it affords us.
And what we know about the work of Pedro Calapez, as in Antonioni’s Red Desert, we know because we see.
Ana Cristina Cachola
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Following the participation in June of Arts 2008, event that sprinkled the town of Óbidos with Art, we welcome, with satisfaction and pride, this individual exhibition of Pedro Calapez that fills NovaOgiva Gallery with a vigorous atmosphere and that is multifaceted in colors that redefine themselves and define the space. The suppression of weight and intensity of the colors define a support operated by the artist to perform a conscious and focused function on the artistic work as an indefinable and shared discovery.
“Do pequeno espaço entre as coisas” (From the small space between things) explores an aesthetic dimension that coordinates the overlap of Art in its own core.
The intricate sequence of colors and full voids, on a permanent deconstruction and reconstruction of the artistic object, synchronize the operability of Art, while visual and individual activity. This is the way Pedro Calapez conveys his journey, sharing it with the visitor, attentive or unconcerned, which completes itself with the malleability of works that do not set apart and are, themselves, the space they occupy and what they leave open.
It is also with this viewpoint that the Municipality of Óbidos outlines its strategy and occupies the space between things with the natural individuality of each one, pouring into an eclectic space and for all. The axis of Creativity /Innovation, Culture and Community Development look for, like the color in Calapez’s work, an uncertain space but occupied and dynamic; an on going perspective and dialogue with the territory, which is known to be incomplete.
As Mayor of this Municipality, I believe in Art, Innovation and Community Development, on an inseparable and complementary relation axis. This exhibition reminds me of the built territory to which are not subtracted the parallel processes of conscious evolution and where colors complete and claim the spaces between things; between substances and people that move and move with them, among things, a territory that attaches to them, more than to itself.
We reiterate for the territory of Óbidos a policy that believes in Art and Culture as the basis for sustainable development of its core and that has implemented projects such as June of Arts, SIPO (Piano Masterclasses), Baroque May (…). We welcome contemporary artists that add value to the space of NovaOgiva Gallery and look forward to welcoming the community, in order to build themselves, by building ,with them, Art that, like the work of Calapez, pluralizes and redoes itself.
Humberto Marques
Mayor of the Town Council of Óbidos Óbidos, November 11, 2013
Depois da presença no Junho das Artes 2008, evento que pulverizou com arte a vila de Óbidos, acolhemos, com satisfação e orgulho, esta exposição individual de Pedro Calapez que preenche a Galeria NovaOgiva com uma vida expressiva e multifacetada nas cores que se redefinem e definem o espaço. A supressão do peso e da intensidade das cores definem um suporte trabalhado pelo artista para desempenhar uma função consciente e centrada na obra artística como descoberta indefinível e participada.
“Do pequeno espaço entre as coisas” explora uma dimensão estética que coordena a sobreposição da arte no seu próprio núcleo. A sucessão complexa de cores e vácuos cheios, numa permanente desconstrução e reconstrução do objeto artístico, coordena a operacionalidade da arte enquanto execução visual e individual. É desta forma que Pedro Calapez extravasa o seu percurso na arte e o partilha com o visitante, atento ou despreocupado, que se completa com a maleabilidade de obras que não se separam e são, em si, o espaço que ocupam e o que deixam por encetar.
É também com esta perspetiva que o Município de Óbidos desenha a sua estratégia e preenche o espaço entre as coisas com a individualidade espontânea de cada um, a verter num espaço eclético e para todos. Os eixos da Criatividade/Inovação, Cultura e Desenvolvimento Comunitário procuram, como a cor na obra de Calapez, um espaço incerto mas preenchido e dinâmico; uma perspetiva em movimento e diálogo com o território, que se sabe incompleto.
Enquanto presidente deste Município, acredito no desenvolvimento da arte, da inovação e da comunidade, num eixo de relações indissociáveis e complementares. Esta exposição recorda-me o território construído a que não se subtraem os processos paralelos de evolução consciente e onde a cor preenche e recebe os espaços entre as coisas; entre os corpos e as pessoas que se movem e movem com eles, entre as coisas, um território que se lhes anexa, mais que a si próprio.
Reiteramos, no Município, uma política que acredita na arte e na cultura como base para um desenvolvimento sustentado do seu núcleo e implementámos projetos como o Junho das Artes, SIPO, Maio Barroco (…). Acolhemos artistas contemporâneos que preenchem qualitativamente o espaço da Galeria NovaOgiva e procuramos acolher a comunidade, para que se construam, construindo, consigo a arte que, como a obra de Calapez, se pluraliza e refaz.
Humberto Marques
Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Óbidos Óbidos, 11 de novembro de 2013
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Contraforte #01, 2013 167,5 x 177 x 15 cm Acrílico s/ Alumínio
conjunto de 2 painéis em alumínio
Quebrado, 2013 217,5 x 212 x 15,5 cm Acrílico s/ Alumínio
conjunto de 3 painéis em alumínio Contraforte #02, 2013
167,5 x 183 x 15 cm Acrílico s/ Alumínio
conjunto de 2 painéis em alumínio
100 x 125 x 32 cm Acrílico s/ Alumínio
Painel em chapa de alumínio deformada
Flutuante #13, 2013 100 x 141 x 29 cm Acrílico s/ Alumínio
Painel em chapa de alumínio deformada
Flutuante #14, 2013 100 x 118 x 36 cm Acrílico s/ Alumínio
Painel em chapa de alumínio deformada
Flutuante #15, 2013 125 x 194 x 20 cm anteriormente: Barreira N
Espaço entre #1 a #34, 2013 Acrílico s/ papel 40 x 60,5 cm cada
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conjunto de 7 painéis em alumínio
Derrube #9576, 2011/2013 115 x 339 x 10 cm Acrílico s/ tela
O que vemos das coisas são as coisas, 2013 143 x 279 x 18 cm
Acrílico s/ Alumínio
conjunto de 15 painéis em alumínio Friso #03, 2013
97 x 176,5 x 20,5 cm Acrílico s/ Alumínio
conjunto de 7 painéis em alumínio Friso #02, 2013
97 x 176,5 x 20,5 cm Acrílico s/ Alumínio
conjunto de 7 painéis em alumínio
Friso #04, 2013 101 x 176,5 x 20,5 cm Acrílico s/ Alumínio
conjunto de 4 painéis em alumínio
dobrado 04, 2013 cada painel com 50 x 70
Barreira D, 2012 230 x 70 x 4 cm Acrílico s/ Alumínio Conjunto de 4 painéis cada painel com 50 x 70
Dominó #01, 2013 205 x 310 cm
conjunto de 6 painéis em alumínio, 100x100 cm cada
Dominó #03, 2013 205 x 310 cm
conjunto de 6 painéis em alumínio, 100x100 cm cada
Dominó #02, 2013 205 x 310 cm
conjunto de 6 painéis em alumínio, 100x100 cm cada
Dominó #04, 2013 205 x 310 cm
conjunto de 6 painéis em alumínio,
conjunto de 6 painéis em alumínio,