ESCULTURAS INFINITAS EXHIBITION

EXHIBITION

Esculturas Infinitas. Do Gesso ao Digital

CURADORY

Penelope Curtis, Rita Fabiana, Thierry Leviez, Armelle Pradalier

COLABORATION

Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa

GALLERY

Calouste Gulbenkian Museum

DESCRIPTION

Incorporating works by 18 contemporary artists and plasters from the collection of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Lisbon, the exhibition Infinite Sculptures seeks to look closely at the role played by molding not only in sculpture, but also in various aspects of everyday life.

This process has allowed the reproduction of works of art, everyday objects, elements of nature and buildings, both in the past and the present. Although plaster molding is still used in artistic production, it is also intended to showcase other more modern technologies, including 3D printing.

These different methods and materials remind us that sculpture is rarely unique: one of its intrinsic characteristics is multiplicity. The plasters allow to perpetuate special moments – the growth of a child, the face of a deceased, an important building – but they can also be used to reproduce objects of everyday use, such as houses or household utensils.

This technique has had an important documental function and, in particular, in medicine: the anatomy room assumes itself as a learning space between medicine and art.

Together with the historical plasters we show works by David Bestué, Marie José Burki, Christine Borland, Steven Claydon, Michael Dean, Aleksandra Domanović, Asta Gröting, Simon Fujiwara, Oliver Laric, Jumana Manna, Jean-Luc Moulène, Charlotte Moth, Rogério Taveira, Francisco Tropa, Xavier Veilhan, Marion Verboom, Daphne Wright and Heimo Zobernig.

These artists were selected for their fascination with molding and their multiple possibilities. Without a fixed narrative, the exhibition can be read through several layers and visitors can find different connections between old and new, focusing on the concepts of reproduction, variation, seriality, scale and tribute.

Before travelling to Lisbon, this exhibition is presented at the Beaux-Arts in Paris until 16 February 2020, bringing together these contemporary works and a selection of plasters from various French institutions in an environment that evokes the role of plaster in artistic learning.