Escala de cor #16 2008

Curator: Here we have "Escala de Cor #16," or "Color Scale #16," created by Pedro Calapez in 2008, an acrylic painting. Editor: Oh, it's like a wonderfully chaotic sunset filtered through someone's very organized mind! I feel a surprising sense of harmony amidst what seems like complete disarray at first glance. Curator: Yes, the painting does strike a balance between chaos and order. It features horizontal bands of vivid colors, arranged almost like a spectrum. But the texture and application within each band are quite expressive. How do you think the arrangement plays into the piece? Editor: The arrangement gives the painting rhythm. I can trace a clear progression from fiery warmth at the top to something cooler and more grounded towards the bottom. The colors do play off of each other in unexpected ways, creating a tension between feeling settled, and still needing to search for more answers about these blocks of color. Curator: Calapez often explores the language of abstraction, pushing the boundaries of color and form. His work frequently reflects an engagement with urban space and architectural forms. Would you say that rings true with "Escala de Cor #16"? Editor: Absolutely. Those bands could easily represent the stacked horizons of buildings. There's an underlying architectural structure, yes, a kind of skeleton holding all these lively splashes of color together. It’s like looking at the DNA of a city! Curator: Indeed, he’s known to be deeply engaged in that kind of dialog. The layers upon layers, that building-up sensation resonates in Calapez's artistic practice and mirrors historical construction as well. How cities come into being through successive waves of building, demolishing and rebuilding. Editor: I get this very real sense of time layered upon time just staring into it. The beauty and destruction both! This actually hits home, reflecting both the artist and I being Portuguese descendants, in a history and landscape so ripe with the fruits of generations! Curator: Precisely. It encapsulates that dynamic, historical relationship between the physical and the lived experiences, creating a visual score to that push and pull. Editor: I'll walk away now thinking about our foundations—literally and figuratively. It really gives you something to consider in a space where so much can be easy to ignore. Thank you for helping to unpack those colorful layers with me!