Estátua de Fernando Pessoa Autor Desconhecido 2003

Editor: Here we have "Estátua de Fernando Pessoa Autor Desconhecido," painted in 2003 using acrylics. It's…strange. The figure is so simplified and the colours are really clashing. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Indeed. It's certainly not a traditional portrait. Let's consider its formal qualities. The artist employs a limited palette dominated by muddy reds and blues, creating a disharmonious, perhaps even unsettling effect. What do you observe about the application of paint itself? Editor: It looks quite rough, almost naive. There's no real blending or subtle shading, it’s very direct. Curator: Precisely. This immediacy draws our attention to the materiality of the paint, its texture and viscosity. Furthermore, the simplified figuration removes any sense of traditional representation. Note how the contours are heavy, and black. This contributes to the overall flattening of the picture plane, challenging any illusion of depth. What does the image remind you of? Editor: It makes me think of primitive art but a touch Fauvist in its boldness, I guess? So, are you suggesting the painting is deliberately unsophisticated to focus on form and colour? Curator: In a formalist reading, yes. We move away from biographical elements. We find artistic significance through the internal workings of colour, form, line, and composition. Editor: I never really thought of looking at a piece this way. That you can pull away at a single brushstroke instead of looking at the bigger picture to get more value. Curator: It offers a different way of engaging with visual language. By doing this, the value is increased as different views and opinions clash and collide!