Some spaces beg for art.
Spaces which are filled with energy, personality, which ask for an artistic intervention in order to reveal themselves. On the other hand, some works of art come to life in relation to the space they are in, in a dialogue with the ceiling, the floor and the walls.
When both things come together, the result isn’t simply an exhibition of canvases, but an installation where everything makes sense, because everything is related. This can be said about Catarina Pinto Leite’s exhibit in Sala do Veado, entitled «Intermitências».
“I am fascinated by all that is subjective, spiritual, abstract and mysterious”, the artist once said. And this is evident in this exhibition of abstract and obscure landscapes. Between the lights and the darkness and the mixture of both dimensions, these works by Catarina Pinto Leite reveal an interest in the mystical side that art can embody, the spiritual side. But the truth is that these blotches and shadows reflect the material which Sala do Veado is made of, as if each painting was a looking-glass over an imperfection of the wall, transporting us beyond space and within time.
The title of the exhibition, “Intermitências”, refers to the “idea of transitoriness, evoking questions related to the pulse of life, to the intervals, to processes of interruption, to the cycles of nature, presenting the literal and symbolic dimension of light/darkness as a primordial element of its practice”, as explained by art critic Sandra Vieira Jürgens in the catalog. The exhibit, curated by Manuel Costa Cabral, gathers 18 preliminary studies in Indian ink and graphite and 20 recent works in different formats in which the artist reveals a new direction in her work, leaving behind the figurative and the more traditional landscapes which used to be a part of her path.
in Revista Time Out
April 2015