– 07.01.2024
For the exhibition Pantalons pour attirer le vent, Francisca Carvalho prepared a set of vertical gouache paintings on paper and coloured pencil drawings.
The pieces organised in the four rooms of the Pavilhão Branco give life to a fluid visual rhythm in which the artist’s sensual and pop imagery, unfolding across the various mediums, vibrates thanks to the fusion of abstract forms with figurative elements.
With an artistic practice essentially developed in the field of drawing, although in recent years focusing on painting on fabric using natural paints according to traditional Indian techniques, Francisca Carvalho’s modus operandi is based on a constant search for formal possibilities and languages, often the result of free association, quick thinking and a rich assortment of interests and references that range from the comics of the 1930s through to North American pop art, the Portuguese generation of the 1970s, medieval illuminations, and Kalamkari painting.
In 2005, Francisca Carvalho (Coimbra, 1981) completed the Advanced Course in Visual Arts at Ar.Co, Lisbon. In 2009, she completed a degree in Philosophy at Universidade Nova de Lisboa FCSH and, in 2016, a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Mount Royal School of Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Between 2014 and 2016, she was a Fulbright Fellow and holder of a scholarship from the Carmona e Costa Foundation and the Mount Royal School of Art. Her work emerges from the handling of symbols that translate into collages, drawings, and textiles. Her exhibition career includes solo exhibitions such as ‘Chordata,’ Culturgest, Porto (2016); ‘Hasta,’ National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum, New Delhi, India (2018); ‘Tiger Mountain,’ A Maior, Viseu (2018); ‘Loom,’ ArtWorks, Póvoa de Varzim (2019); ‘Às nonas, Midas nos dedos medram e mondam,’ the Municipal Gallery of Almada (2021); and ‘Cosmic Tones,’ CIAJG, Guimarães (2021). She participated in the exhibition of the five finalists ‘Art on Paper Navigator Prize,’ Chiado 8, Lisbon (2018). Also in 2018, she received a grant from the Fundação Oriente and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, allowiing her to develop practical research in India on patterns, natural dyes, kalamkari, and hand block printing in Rajasthan and Gujarat. She has participated in group exhibitions such as ‘Plano de Contingência,’ Galeria Cristina Guerra, Lisbon (2023); ‘Ninguém. Só eu,’ Centro de Arte Oliva (2022); ‘Farsa,’ Sesc Pompeia, São Paulo, Brazil; ‘Isolation, Oscillation,’ Outono Projects, New York (2021); ‘Triângulo,’ Brotéria, Lisbon (2021); ‘Orto di Incendio,’ Instituto Nazionale per la Grafica di Roma (2019); ‘Gabinete de Moda,’ Gabinete, Lisbon (2017); ‘Small Victories,’ School 33, Baltimore (2016); and ‘Francisca Carvalho and Pedro Faria,’ Croxhapox, Gent, Belgium (2014). Also noteworthy is her co-founding and coordination of Atelier Concorde in Lisbon (2010 – 2014), her practice as a Drawing and Painting teacher at Ar.Co (2008 – 2021), and her experience as a Visiting Artist in the Mount Royal School of Art Master’s programme at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore (2020-2021).
– 07.01.2024