This afternoon event at Galeria Avenida da Índia features a conversation between João Vasco Paiva, Magdalen Wong and Ramiro Guerreiro, the three Lisbon-based artists who present work in the exhibition Cut Down The Middle. The conversation between the artists provides an opportunity to engage in a dialogue about the body and constructed infrastructures, architectures, thresholds and the topographies of the lived and mediated megalopolis, and other topics that represent the pillars of Cut Down The Middle, curated by Cláudia Pestana in dialogue with João Vasco Paiva for Galerias Municipais.
João Vasco Paiva (b. 1979, Coimbra) transforms his perceptions of spaces he inhabits, and objects found within them, into works that include videos, sculptures, and installations. These transformations result from processes of mapping, translating, moulding and casting. Paiva’s examination of the ephemerality, and durability, of the structures and languages behind the construction of these often neglected items, draws out their continuously shifting characteristics. João Vasco Paiva’s solo projects include. Connecting.(with Irini Miga), PRACTICE, New York (2017); Green Island, Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong (2016); CARGO, Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado, Lisbon (2016); Dormant Fabric, Counter Space, Zurich (2015); Objects Encrypted, Goethe Institut, Hong Kong (2013). His work has been in numerous group shows including Bold Tendencies 2018: Ecology, Bold Tendencies, London (2018), Scraggly Beard Grandpa, Capsule Shanghai, Shanghai (2017), The Part in the Story Where a Part Becomes a Part of Something
Else, Witte de With, Rotterdam (2014), Living as Art Form, Independent Curators International, New York ( 2013).
Ramiro Guerreiro (b. 1978, Lisbon) works with the body, architecture, and documental material to question socio-political and economic contexts. His practice often involves performance and results in drawing, photography, video and printed material that challenge perspectives on cultural heritage. His practice gives particular focus to the elements and functionalities that make cities into how they are perceived and experienced. His recent solo exhibitions include Moi Aussi…, Lehmann + Silva Gallery, Porto (2019); The T.I.N.A. Pamphlet, πνεῦμα / Pneuma Project, Lisbon, and Abrigo para um só corpo, École Supérieur de Beaux Arts, Angers (2017). His work has been in numerous group shows including De Outros Espaços, Galeria Municipal do Porto, Porto, Ponto de Fuga, Galeria Municipal do Torreão Nascente, Lisbon (2019); Escala 1:1, La Tabacalera, Madrid, O que pode a Arte?, Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar, Lisbon, and Mistake! Mistake! said the rooster… and stepped down from the duck, Lumiar Cité, Lisbon (2018).
Magdalen Wong (b. 1981, Hong Kong) processes material drawn from social media, advertising and film, as well as local shops and markets, into videos and installations. By examining how these found images and sounds operate as languages, the artist seeks to understand the human need to build comfort and improve efficiency. Through this practice, she also questions how this desire to create and invent affects how we evaluate, alter, and exploit our surroundings and our own selves. Her solo shows include Dreaming of Dying Robots and Artificial Flowers, Make Room, Los Angeles, and Invented Landscape, Fresh Window Gallery, Brooklyn (2017). Her work has been in numerous group shows including Crush, Para/Site, and Dismantling the Scaffold, Tai Kwun Contemporary, both in Hong Kong (2018); TECHSTYLE Series 1.0: Ariadne’s Thread, Mill 6, Hong Kong, Splotch, Lesley Heller Workspace, New York, S.O.S. Save Our Souls. Art for a Time of Urgencies, EMAP sound and moving image festival, Seoul (2016); The Part in the Story Where a Part Becomes a Part of Something Else, Witte de With, Rotterdam (2014).
