This publication accompanied the exhibition Turbulence – Works from the “la Caixa” Contemporary Art Collection. Curated by Nimfa Bisbe this exhibition was on view at Torreão Nascente da Cordoaria Nacional between 8 September and 3 December 2017 as part of the Past and Present – Lisbon, Ibero-American Capital of Culture 2017 programme. It contains introductory texts by Catarina Vaz Pinto, António Pinto Ribeiro and Elisa Durán Montolio, an essay by the curator Nimfa Bisbe, and short catalogue entries for each work exhibited, as well as their photographic reproduction.
“The exhibition “Turbulence” is a project that incorporates several dimensions: the city’s international outlook; the promotion of contemporary art; the intersection of integrated programmatic, territorial and artistic visions; and the partnership with a great patron.”
– Catarina Vaz Pinto
“Turbulence, an exhibition of works forming part of the ”la Caixa” Foundation’s collection selected by the curator Nimfa Bisbe, can be seen as a visual statement of an insoluble problem of the capacity and validity of the deviation and energy that these contemporary works can provoke and contain in the face of the world’s evolution. Taking the name of one of the works exhibited by the artist Shirin Neshat, one cannot expect that each of these works has some activist configuration rooted in avant-garde movements; yet, they all share an intensity and energy, two categories most probably at work in the art system today.”
– António Pinto Ribeiro
“This selection has been devised specially for this exhibition, as a reflection rooted in the abovementioned framework, undertaken in the spirit which drives the Collection, which is that of providing a vision of contemporary creation as a form of perceiving society. And always with that social aspect as a backdrop, which is an aspect that has always characterised both the Collection and the Foundation.”
– Elisa Durán Montolio
“The turbulent globalisation of recent decades does not stop the world from continuing to be open to collective connections, to inter-cultural dialogues and to free speech. Perhaps art can contribute to strengthening ties and to generating a greater awareness of the social environment, by lending it a heightened visibility, although it does not aim to provide solutions to conflicts or to carry out examination of conscience. The artist’s critical gaze is exercised through the symbolic, the imaginary, and the poetic, and their intention is for it to be us, those viewing the works, to give meaning to their work and their reflections.”
– Nimfa Bisbe