Pedro Matos
“At once familiar and completely alien.”
27 April - 3 June 2017
Eduardo Secci Contemporary
Piazza Carlo Goldoni 2
50123 Firenze
“At once familiar and completely alien.”
27 April - 3 June 2017
Eduardo Secci Contemporary
Piazza Carlo Goldoni 2
50123 Firenze
Images courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci Contemporary
How
to find a balance, how to find the happy medium? One that falls between
objectivity and subjectivity, between temporality and timelessness? Where lies
the limit between a natural space and an urban space? Pedro Matos’ work
oscillates between these concepts and these interrogations. In his canvasses,
the artist references nature, the ocean. He imprints images, uses
photography, resorts to technology – Photoshop and projection – to create
these abstract artworks we are given to see. Inspired by random textures seen
close to the sea or during his urban strolls, he draws us into his universe
which, to us, seems at once familiar and completely alien.
This
solo project by Pedro Matos introduces entirely new series of works, all of
which co-exist and share the same intrinsic concept. In the series titled
Carving, we can recognise messages and carvings such as those found on the
walls of our cities, in stairwells or in the public toilets of motorway service
stations. We can feel people’s desire to capture a moment, a love story, or
simply express their identity. Matos seizes an ephemeral carving and restores
its primary purpose: by imprinting these forgotten messages on his canvasses he
gives them a second life – this time round, enduring. This notion is also present
in the series titled Juxtaposition, where the abstract quality of textures and
natural scenarios meticulously studied, juxtaposed and assembled enable to
pause both time and space.
Matos
transforms a banal image of our daily life and elevates it to the condition of
a work of art. He enables us to see the beauty present in the banalities of
everyday life. The series titled Subliminal Gesture also allows us to explore
this concept, as the artist focuses on the typical paving found in suburban
houses in Portugal. The marble that forms these disregarded pavings – cracked
and laid out in a falsely geometric manner – inspires the artist. He nds in
them a beauty and an interest they had never witnessed before.
For
this exhibition, Matos also continues his exploration of sculpture, which has
introduced a new dimension into his practice. While still using materials from
daily life, this time he turns to stimulants, such as caffeine, and protein
powder, among others. The artist places them in opposition to concrete, one of
the materials most used in the construction of our urban spaces – once again a
play between the strength and the sturdiness of a material with real qualities
like concrete, and the emptiness, the quick gain and the non-lasting effect
provided by these stimulants.
In
this exhibition, Matos allows us to take a step back, to become observers of
the surrounding world. He gives us the keys to nd a certain harmony amidst our
chaos.
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Text by Pauline Foessel.