Pretérito Imperfeito, group show, Galeria Presença, Porto
The group exhibition Pretérito Imperfeito by Mafalda Santos, JanSerych, Mariana Caló and Francisco Queimadela brings together works that directly and indirectly inquire about the nature of time and its relationship with space, the construction of history and experience.
Following the work “The Kappa Effect” started in 2011, Mafalda Santos presents a new set of works that again focus on issues related to perception. Exploring the deformations and plasticity with which we conceive and understand time, conditioned by our own cognitive processes and perception mechanisms, it presents a “timeline” that seeks to simulate a displacement in space composed of a succession of stimuli at various speeds.
Jan Šerých recycles geometric shapes that derive from a modernist aesthetic in the realization of a series of paintings inspired by the simple structure of a target, to present a sequence that refers to the fragmented functioning of a clock. Still, in his “text-paintings” he seeks to deconstruct a linear idea of chronology by relocating and decontextualizing words and statements apparently taken from a narrative.
Mariana Caló and Francisco Queimadela, in collaboration, present another chapter of the continuous project Gradações de Tempo sobre o Plano, started in 2010. Of fieldwork, and recording in various media (video, sound, photography, drawing and text) of research and actions carried out on the slopes of “Seven Sisters” (East Sussex, United Kingdom) present “Carta ao Porvir”: an installation composed of a video projection, a stack of prints and a hand-painted book. This proposes a reflection on the relationship of Man with the passage of time, dealing with the idea of “time capsule” as a vehicle that transmits experience and knowledge crystallized in a given moment and place.
Helena Mendes Pereira