Sculptures is an exhibition consisting of new works in steel by Zulmiro de Carvalho. The pieces, studied for the space of the gallery, were developed in a way that makes possible the relation with different spaces. The use of a formal modular system, a usual characteristic in the artist’s working process, also allows that the sculptures could assume different configurations.
Sculptures
text by Óscar Faria
The works now revealed by Zulmiro de Carvalho appear in the continuity of researches that the artist has been taking around questions related to sculpture. These pieces reflect the will to reduce to an essence, to occupy a minimum of space, the enough to bring us closer to a primordial silence.
The grammar is minimalist, however the inclusion of folds or the visibility of marks resulting from the work process, potentiate other readings which can come as much from the splendour of the Baroque, as from the zen philosophy.
The sculptures of Zulmiro de Carvalho are presences: pieces contained inside themselves, withdrawing from the world for better reveal it. Their assertion is realized by the cut they produce in the surrounding space, either be the white cube of the gallery or nature, where they can also be installed.
They have no fixed position: they underline the impermanence. And they live in duration: they act on time, which also changes them. If placed outside, the rust will give them other tonalities; if installed in an interior, they will produce an intimacy, a space for sharing and of continuous variations. They age: they get a new breathing.
These sculptures have their own grammar. It is possible to read them as words, to compose sentences, to compose a sober, restrained poem which would account the encounter between light and its shapes. These are works that require attention. Folds in envelopes are their origin. And still the golden rule. Bodies at rest can be seen. There are no artifices. These are works that seek serenity.
