Isabel Carvalho
Isabel Carvalho (Porto, 1977). Her artistic career is characterized by a strong experimental component, based on researching the field of philosophy and literature mainly, and evolves at the intersection of arts, sciences and speculative knowledge. In her projects she recurrently addresses issues related to the materiality underlying language including non-verbal expressive forms, seeking to raise awareness and wishing to be able to contribute to the preservation of diverse ecosystems of sociability. Her work has been developed in the close articulation between visual arts, writing, editing and publishing books, an array of expressions or means that, over the last few years, has expanded to sculpture and the occupation of three- dimensional spaces. She exhibits individually and collectively on a regular basis, highlighting, among her most recent presentations, the following: Langages Tissés, Centre d'Arte Le Lait (Albi), in France and AR(a)C(hné)-EN-CIEL, Galeria Quadrado Azul (Lisbon), Strange Attractor, Pavilhão Branco (Lisbon) and Pés de barro, Galeria Municipal do Porto (Porto), in Portugal. She participated in artistic residencies at Kusntlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany; Hangar, Barcelona, Spain and Maaretta Jaukkuri Foundation, Lofoten, Norway. She is represented in several public collections. She was responsible for the Navio Vazio project, a temporary occupation space of editorial experimentation in three dimensions. In 2017, she started the magazine Leonorana, as an author and editor.
Solo Exhibitions (selection)
2023
Casting a Sounding Voice , CAAA, Centro para os Assuntos da Arte e Arquitectura, Guimarães.
Les Péninsules démarrées, FRAC MÉCA - Bordeaux - France.
2022
Museu Mineiro, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Porto.
The Grottos Community... new findings, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon.
2021
Langages Tissés, Le Lait - Centre d'art contemporain, Albi, France.
2019
AR(a)C(hné)-EN-CIEL, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon.
2018
loja dos espíritos - em cadeia de marcas partidas, moldadas - soma de enunciados - à semelhança das profecias sem fundo, suspensas na película - à tona, combinam-se - para resistirem, por extenso(...), Spirit Shop, Lisbon, Portugal.
Os Ovários das Papoilas, with Clara Batalha, Praça dos Poveiros, Porto, Portugal.
2014
Following the green lights, Projecto Artes, Porto, Portugal.
2012
Orla, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Porto, Portugal.
2010
Desmontagem e venda de uma biblioteca privada, Navio Vazio, Porto, Portugal.
2008
Biting the hand that feeds you, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon, Portugal.
Trap, Mad Women in the Attic, Porto, Portugal.
Girls are dreaming about enormous machines, Galeria NovaOgiva, Óbidos, Portugal.
Festival sincero II, Espaço Gesto, Porto, Portugal.
2007
A casa é sincera – communitary artistic residency / Exchange of talents, Laboratório das artes, Guimarães, Portugal.
Exhibition / Artistic residency, Hangar, Barcelona, Spain.
2006
Estação Arqueológica, Museu Martins Sarmento, Galeria SMS, Guimarães, Portugal.
Yes, I’m ; No I’m not, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Porto, Portugal.
Wanda, Sala de espera, Guimarães, Portugal.
Wanda, Banda, Projecto Apêndice, Centro Comercial Cedofeita, Porto, Portugal.
Performances
2022
UBERRO, Museu Serralves, Porto.
2015
Cálice. Ensaio, meta-ensaio e pintura, anozero, Bienal de Arte Contemporânea de Coimbra, Casa da Escrita, Coimbra, Portugal.
T-A-R-T-A-R-U-G-A, THE MUSEUM AS PERFORMANCE, Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal.
Néon e Procelária, PERFORMANCE... AGAIN! #2, Teatro Municipal Rivoli, Oporto, Portugal.
2014
A escama / The fish scale, Old School, Lisbon, Portugal.
2013
It’s an ocean, not a puddle from which to drink once, Centro de Arte Moderna, Lisbon, Portugal.
2009
Guarany, Regime de Meia Pensão, Oporto, Portugal.
2008
(concerto com a banda Flanela de Tal), Lydia Lunch, Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon, Portugal.
Group Exhibitions (selection)
2022
Tale About Urban Piracy, Museu Municipal de Coimbra, Portugal.
Les Péninsules démarrées, Frac Nouvelle - Aquitaine MÉCA | Bordeaux, France.
Green Flames, Albarrán Bourdais | Madrid.
Tout ce que je veux - Artistes Portugaises de 1900 à 2020, Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré, Tours, France.
2021
Strange Attractor, Pavilhão Branco, Lisboa, Portugal.
Ernesto de Sousa, Exercises of Poetic Communication with Other Aesthetic Operators, Galeria Avenida da Índia + Galeria Quadrum, Lisbon, Portugal.
Liga #2, Zaratan, Lisboa, Portugal.
Pés de Barro, Galeria Municipal do Porto, Portugal.
All I want - Portuguese Women Artists from 1900 to 2020, Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal.
2020
Que horas são que horas - Uma galeria de Histórias, Galeria Municipal do Porto, Portugal.
2019
A Musa em Férias, Casa-Museu Guerra Junqueiro, Porto, Portugal.
Library in the Library. Self-publishing in Porto, 1999-2019, Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal.
ARCO Madrid, booth Galerias Municipais, Madrid, Spain.
Findings, Quadrado Azul, Lisbon, Portugal.
2018
Zero em Comportamento: Obras da Coleção de Serralves, Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal.
O Estado das Coisas, Camões - Centro Cultural Português, Berlin, Germany.
Ver as Vozes dos Artistas, Saco Azul Associação Cultural, Porto, Portugal.
Uma Loja, Cinco Casas e uma Escola, Colégio das Artes, Coimbra, Portugal.
Não é ainda o mar, org. Sismógrafo, Convento Corpus Christi, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.
2017
QAXXX(P3), Quadrado Azul, Lisbon, Portugal.
Feliz Ano Novo, Galeria Comercial Mota Galiza, Porto, Portugal.
A Arte como Experiência do Real, Coleção de Ivo Martins em Depósito no Museu de Serralves, CIAJG, Guimarães, Portugal.
The book dispersed, Casa das Artes, Porto, Portugal.
2016
Questions of Relief, Galeria Vertical Silo Auto, Porto, Portugal.
Signals, Nordic Guest Studio Malongen, Stockholm, Sweden.
FRASES PARA QUEM?, Galeria Municipal, Oporto, Portugal.
QUE SAIS-JE?: LIVROS E EDIÇÕES DE ARTISTA DA COLEÇÃO DE SERRALVES, Serralves Bookshop, Porto, Portugal.
2015
Louro e Bambú - segundo acto, figuração do exótico, CAAA, Guimarães, Portugal.
QUE SAIS-JE?, CAPC Musée d' Art Contemporain, Bordeaux, France.
远影-distant-shadow, The Jimei X Arles Festival, Xiamen, China.
Generative Library, Büro Broken Dimanche Press (BDP), Berlin, Germany.
2014
A boca do Inferno, Sismógrafo, Porto, Portugal.
2013
Disruptive Patterns, Altes Finanzamt, Berlin, Germany.
Figure, Acqua carrée building, Berlin, Germany.
Dissident Desire, District, Berlin, Germany.
A Entrevista Perpétua, Serralves Museum, AXA, Porto, Portugal.
Open Studios, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany.
2012
O Princípio da Inércia, Pavilhão Branco, Lisbon, Portugal.
2011
Tinta nos nervos, Museu Colecção Berardo, Lisbon, Portugal.
Que sais je?, Agência Vera Cortês, Lisbon, Portugal.
2010
male, Femlink: The international video collage, Canada.
El mal d’escriptura. Un projecte sobre text i imaginació especulativa, MACBA, Barcelona, Spain.
El mal d’escriptura. Un projecte sobre text i imaginació especulativa, Artissima, Turin, Italy.
Portugal Arte, Bienal de Lisboa, Pavilhão de Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal.
202020, Plano B, Porto, Portugal.
Combate Ilustrado, Museu Colecção Berardo, Lisbon, Portugal.
A sombra de um cabelo, Navio Vazio, Porto, Portugal.
CGEM: Notes about Emancipation, MUSAC, Léon, Spain.
Troca-te por arte, Novalma, Porto, Portugal.
Os lábios inclinados para a mão os desenhar, Navio Vazio, Porto, Portugal.
2009
Arte Urbana, Fundação AMI – Assistência Médica Internacional, Porto, Portugal.
Unknown Parameter Value, Projecto Antena, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto/ Câmara Municipal do Seixal, Seixal, Portugal.
Time is a book, Time Festival, Ghent, Belgium.
Emissores reunidos, Antiga RDP/ Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto, Portugal.
Regime de meia pensão, Café Guarani, Porto, Portugal.
2008
Part-ilha, Spike island, Bristol, United Kingdom.
2007
Estereótipos, ESAD, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.
Salão Erótico de Lisboa, FIL, Lisbon, Portugal.
Desêxpor, Centro Franco-Moçambicano, Mozambique.
Portugal Agora – À Propos des lieux d’origine, MUDAM, Luxembourg.
Um sexto sentido, Galeria do Jornal de Notícias, Porto, Portugal.
Opções e futuros, Colecção PLMJ, Arte Contempo, Lisbon, Portugal.
Grande Prémio de Desenho, Senhorio, Porto, Portugal.
Anti-monumentos, Galeria António Henriques/ Teatro Viriato, Viseu, Portugal.
Arte Contemporânea – Projecto Fábrica, Laboratório das Artes, Guimarães, Portugal.
2006
All my independent women, Eira 33, Lisbon, Portugal.
Busca Pólos, Centro Cultural de Vila Flor, Guimarães, Portugal.
Busca Pólos, Pavilhão de Portugal, Coimbra, Portugal.
Encontro de Arte Jovem – Bienal de Arte – Chaves 2006, Chaves, Portugal.
Em torno, NEC – Núcleo de Experimentação Coreográfica, Porto, Portugal.
Festival Sincero, Há-aí-uma-certa-tendência, Porto, Portugal.
Paperback, MARCO, Vigo, Spain.
fiav.06 – Festival of Artistic Video Images, Nîmes, France.
Projecto Teleférico – operação transbordo, Teleférico de Guimarães/ Laboratório das Artes, Guimarães, Portugal.
Residências
2019
Maaretta Jaukkuri Foundation's Fellows Programme, Lofoten, Norway.
2016
Nordic Art Association, Stockholm, Sweden.
2012
Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany.
2011
Caribic Residency Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
2007
Hangar, Barcelona, Spain.
Projectos
2017 -
LEONORANA is a bilingual cross-disciplinary magazine that is published on an irregular basis. Its main goal is studying the relation of conflict and complicity between verbal and visual languages, www.leonorana.com/.
2010 -
NAVIO VAZIO is a project-space for three-dimensional editorial experimentation, www.navio-vazio.net.
2007-2011
BRAÇO DE FERRO was an independent, self-sustained editorial project, coordinated by artist Isabel Carvalho and graphic designer Pedro Nora, based in Porto since 2007, www.bfeditora.net.
Awards
2020
Prémio Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso 2020, Amarante, Portugal.
Plateau singers merge languages together / Os cantores de planaltos fundem linguagens, 2013. Engraved acrylic plates.
Ar(a)C(hné)-EN-CIEL, 2019. Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon, exhibition view
Vector 4. decomposition variants of censorship mechanisms' (MUZZLES): NOISE, 2019. Clay, black acrylic plaster, glass paints on aluminium plates. 140 x 100 cm.
INTERJECTIONS, 2019. Clay, plaster, acrylic spray and cosmetics. 15 x 27 x 4,5 cm.
STAMMERING, 2019. Clay, plaster, acrylic spray and cosmetics. 3 —A: 25 x 47 x 2,5 cm; B: 25 x 40 x 2,5 cm; C: 25 x 44 x 3 cm.
Vector 4. decomposition variants of censorship mechanisms' (MUZZLES): NOISE, 2019. Clay, black acrylic plaster, glass paints on aluminium plates.. 140 x 100 cm.
physionomies (Histoire de la caricature), 2020. Acrylic spray, markers on fabric panels. 60 x 300 cm.
en marchant…(Histoire de la caricature), 2020. Markers on fabric panels. 60 x 300 cm.
Histoire de la caricature, 2020. Museu Municipal Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, Amarante, Exhibition view .
Artéfacts (Histoire de la caricature), 2020. Plaster, acrylic spray and copper colored cosmetic pigment.
Langages Tissés, 2021. Centre Le Lait, Albi. Exhibition view.
Langages Tissés, 2021. Centre Le Lait, Albi. Exhibition view.
Des carillons éoliens pour annoncer des manœuvres de crépuscules d'été, 2021. Glass and cord. L 13 x H 258 x P 5 cm; L 13 x H 291 x P 5 cm; L 13 x H 315 x P 5 cm; L 13 x H 315 x P 5 cm.
O que é que a Giulia Bigolina fez com as suas notti? Ela passou-as sozinha enquanto exercitava a caligrafia em direção à abstração. Não era já conhecido que ela era uma decifradora de códigos?, 2021. Qu'a fait Giulia Bigolina de ses notti (nuits) ? Elle les passa seule à s'exercer à une calligraphie qui tendait à l'abstraction. N'était-il pas connu qu'elle était de celles qui « cassent les codes»? Blinds, paste and acrylic paint. 328 x 180 x 260 cm.
Langages Tissés, 2021. Centre Le Lait, Albi. Exhibition view.
Inscrições em Terras Assombradas, 2021. Clay, glass paint, acrylic globes, aluminum structure. 150 x 150 cm.
Inscrições em Terras Assombradas, 2021. Clay, glass paint, acrylic globes, aluminum structure. 150 x 150 cm.
Inscrições em Terras Assombradas, 2021. Clay, glass paint, acrylic globes, aluminum structure. 150 x 150 cm.
Strange Attractor. Galerias Municipais de Lisbon, Pavilhão Branco, Lisbon. Exhibition view.
tickling nerves, 2021. Painted plaster, molded in clay matrices with traces of burnt incense (sawdust from cherry, chestnut and pine, incense beans, dried roses, incense essence, ground charcoal, diluted gum arabic, pigments and alcohol) and gold powder. 26 x 21 x 17 cm.
counter-memory 2, 2021. Plaster molded in clay matrices. 21 x 54,5 x 26 cm.