Bala de Agulhas
Manuel Carvalho
Mezzanine Project
Celma Albuquerque presents in its Mezzanine Project a solo exhibition by Manuel Carvalho entitled Bala de Agulhas in which the artist presents his recent production.
The Bala de Agulhas exhibition, by the artist Manuel Carvalho, presents works from three different series: Anacolutos, Empate and Paisagem. In this set of works, it is possible to perceive one of the constitutive traits of his work, heterogeneity. This heterogeneity is based on a paradox: not only are there several paths pointed out, but there are some lasting elements that mark the authorial trait of this poetics. However, these lasting traits are also marked by heterogeneity. From Anacoluto, Manuel Carvalho retains the irruption of interposing linear syntax – the line that breaks, the masses of color that overlap, the figurative references that come from distinct and contradictory universes. There is all this in this series, marked above all by a set of techniques which create a constant displacement between figuration and elements that bar their enjoyment, masses of color, plans, etc. But there is more: one of the essential compositional elements of Manuel de Carvalho’s painting, the spectator. Not only the stunning optical games, which undo the stability of the look, but a vast arsenal of references that remain elliptical coexist, constituting a perennial and reciprocal threat to the universe of meaning from which they start.
Manuel Carvalho’s paintings, in this series, include formal construction and its dissolution: the diversion through the body that characterizes the series Paisagens, in which the paradox in question, figuration and abstraction, is built less by a conceptual path and more by the surface of masses of color that excite above all a strictly sensitive enjoyment. In the end, what drives these works is the passion for painting as a form of expression of body and thinking.
Ewerton Belico
Manuel Carvalho completed his bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Escola Guignard – UEMG. Participated in residences at Jaca (Jardim Canadá), 2015, in partnership with Warley Desali; Agora (Bela Scrva, Servia), in 2014; and at EXA (Belo Horizonte), in 2013. In partnership with Gustavo Maia, he was selected for the 1st Itamaraty Prize for Contemporary Art in 2011. He participated in individual exhibitions such as Empate (Mama/Cadela galeria), 2014, Belo Horizonte; Da pintura (BDMG cultural) 2014, Belo Horizonte. Among the various group exhibitions, the following stand out: Antimônio, (Mama/Cadela Galeria), 2014, Belo Horizonte; 50 gramas de copo, in partnership with Warley Desali (Aliança Francesa), 2014, Belo Horizonte; MAPA:\ (manutenção em procedimentos e apropriações), 2013, Belo Horizonte; Atropelamento (Centro Cultural UFMG), 2011, Belo Horizonte; Encontros e Mestiçagens Culturais (FAOP), 2010, Ouro Preto; Draw drawing 2 – London Biennale (Foundry Gallery), 2006, England.