Invisibilidade Fernanda Fragateiro

17/11/2009 - 19/12/2009

Galeria Leme presents the solo exhibition “Invisibilidade” by the Portuguese artist Fernanda Fragateiro. The artist is known for her minimal sculptural and architectural interventions and installations in unexpected spaces (a monastery, an orphanage, or dilapidated houses) and by works that continuously and subtlety engage two historically antagonistic movements; the modernist and the feminist project.

At this exhibition Fernanda Fragateiro shows sculptures made of polished stainless steel and aluminum that explore the boundaries between art and architecture. The forms and reflective surfaces of the sculptures establish a strong dialogue with the space and the light of the gallery, dealing simultaneously with presence and invisibility. The stainless steel and aluminum, widely used in working tools of everyday use, shown as fully polished and mirrored, remind us of the non-utilitarian nature of sculpture.

Among the presented works is “Expectativa de uma paisagem de acontecimentos #4” (Expectations of a landscape of events # 4), a mesh of rectangular modules of polished aluminum, connected to each other forming a large grid. The first piece of this series was made in modules of wood, the second in cork, both materials provide extensible and retractable surfaces. The use of aluminum left the structure more rigid, creating sort of a carpet on the floor. The title refers to the possibility of change of the work. All articulable, the sculpture allows the viewer to see different landscapes.
Fernanda Fragateiro also shows a work of the series “Não ler” (Do not read). A sculpture made from cut out books and stainless steel. The books were found by the artist, a collection that caught her attention for the quality of its titles. In this work the artist does not draw, but reveals, through the action of cutting, a pre-existing drawing. To Fernanda Fragateiro books are made for reading, but they contain something extra and depends on our ability to see or not, this idea is reinforced by the negation in the title.

Fernanda Fragateiro (Born in Montijo, Portugal. Lives and works in Lisbon). Fragateiro’s work has been exhibited at the Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon; Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela; Serralves Foundation, Porto; Centro Atlântico de Arte Moderna, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Culturgest, Lisbon; – Fundacio ‘La Caixa’, Caixa Forum, Barcelona. Her installations and site specific projects have been displayed in public spaces in diverse cities throughout Europe.

Cortesy of: Galeria Elba Benítez