11/25/2020

​

Interview with Pedro Cunha, ex-aequo winner of the 11th edition of the Vila Verde International Biennial, with the work "Pedras no Sapato"

​

  - »𝐎 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥

𝐝𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦 𝐝𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞? 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨

𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚?

A.: I studied for 6 years at the Faculty of Fine Arts of

University of Porto and in this artistic/academic environment the existence

initiatives of this nature such as the International Art Biennial

Young people from Vila Verde have always been widely publicized; either for

colleagues or teachers. It's hard for me to go back to what took me

aware of this initiative, but it undoubtedly resides somewhere

in the sharing of teachers, or fellow artists.

What led me to participate in the Bienal was precisely the reason for

which was so shared and cherished at the Faculty: it is the best

dissemination and recognition that an artist (or aspiring artist)

can have - only on participation.

​

- »𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐢 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜̧𝐚𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐫𝐚 𝐨𝐛𝐫𝐚 𝐨𝐛𝐫𝐚?

R.: It is possible to say that all my work is influenced, almost

contaminated by the ideology and technique of 3 artists: Francisco de Goya,

Jean-Michel Basquiat and Piranesi.

It is in Piranesi's engravings that one can find the greatest influence

for this work - “they are representations beyond reason”, ambiguous,

subjective, fanciful that insert the landscape as the theme of

whims, but above all that evidence “the operation of

hand as an agent of invention”.

However, the work “Los Caprichos” by Goya also plays a fundamental role in the conceptual development of these drawings. In his deafness, Goya pursued a theme that haunted him, that occupied a large part of his thought – a thought marked by war and the inquisition, by the lack of humanity and reason, marked by ignorance and drowsiness. The subject of his work was the representation of that world – of his world – a satirical representation where the laughter and the sour, and the violence and cruelty, were not covered up.

This work does not pretend to be what these artists did, it would be uninteresting if it were. But it is not possible to deny this contamination, so natural, and even interesting, that recurrently happens in all artistic creation.

The truth is that “inspiration”, in my work, I usually like to call research and study with a dash of luck and chance.

​

-» 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐪𝐮𝐞̂ “𝐏𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐨”?

A.: “Pedras no Sapato” because it is impossible to walk with stones in your shoe. We have to take them off. While they're there, they're a giant nuisance, almost a hindrance, but then when we take them out and we see that they're tiny. In this work, perhaps due to the delay in execution, the drawing becomes repetitive and automatic, the representation itself is no longer relevant, and the gesture and act of drawing become the true protagonist. The gesture begins as an attempt to represent a scenario - unreal and imaginary -, but with the advance of time, tiredness, saturation and drowsiness becomes a purely mechanical gesture and devoid of meaning or representation - a reflection. In tiredness and distraction, the gesture becomes random, not corresponding to any image, just corresponding to memory, reacting to an impulse – it becomes sleepy, wandering, automatic, reflective and necessary.

Then comes the word. It arises at times when the representation of the real is no longer a concern. It appears as a reflection, this time not as a hand, but as a thought – similar to Basquiat's works, they are shouted, expelled and cathartic. “Pedras no Sapato” because it is this necessary and useless gesture, which reflexively expels some annoyances; in the form of clouds made of dots, lines, words; of small clumps of rocks that become mountains, that become planets, that become tiny, insignificant clusters of nothingness.

​

- »𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐫 𝐨 𝟏 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐨 𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐨 𝐧𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐨 𝐯𝐚𝐢 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐬?

R.: You say that winning the 1st Prize of an International Biennial is an important milestone, because you are certainly aware of what this causes in an artist. I'm not the only artist, perhaps, who constantly thinks: “well, today I'm going to dedicate myself to a serious profession” or “maybe they were right and being an artist is not for me”. It's not a recurring feeling, it's a permanent feeling that we sleep with. Winning the Vila Verde International Youth Art Biennial is recognition that it is worth it after all. After a few days, it's gone and we're back to doubting everything again. But at least, whenever I think about this award, I'll have the feeling of accomplishment, of reward. That's the help that this experience has given me for future projects, which is actually the best help you can get, I think: a reward.

​

- »𝐓𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐧𝐚 𝐝𝐚 𝐨𝐛𝐫𝐚, 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐚?

R.: I think that some fellow artists will agree that being closed, working, alone, without going out, is not exactly something we are not used to – which for the production of this and any work was even a help. On the other hand, of course, it was a year of extreme anxiety, all exhibitions are being postponed, all competitions are being postponed or cancelled. We are constantly “hanging”, waiting, without much response. It's exhausting.

​

- »𝐃𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐬 (𝐧𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐬, 𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐦 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞

A.: Art being a testament to nature and individual human thought, it adapts and reinvents itself in any way, as it has always adapted, evolved and deconstructed. The important question, perhaps, is how institutions intend to adapt to art after a situation like the current one. With an economic crisis, the problem is always focused on the priority of investment and consequently on the usefulness of the areas where it is applied. In other words, will art be an investment priority on the part of public and private institutions?

I believe that art is by nature useless – and that it is from this uselessness that its fascination comes. Artists create carelessly and irresponsibly. That is, as a general rule, they are not governed by media profit, by the functionality of the pieces, by the majority acceptance or even by beauty. What does art have to offer, then, that is worth an investment? Due to the freedom that uselessness granted it, art becomes the expressive testimony of the individual thought of a certain human being, at a certain time, in a certain space – without it, we would hardly have a notion of what the Man of the past is, the Man of the past. present, of Man in general. Art does not shape thought or idea, but testifies and freezes what is most profound in Man at each historical moment. For art (and artists) to fulfill its purpose, it is necessary to be “free”, useless. Art is a priority – and when I talk about art I mean painting, sculpture, drawing, performance, music, dance, cinema, writing, architecture, etc. Are institutions aware and willing to invest in an area that does not have an immediate economic return? In a useless area?

The problem with art adapting in times of crisis is not its existence – artists have always overcome times of crisis, wars, epidemics, natural catastrophes, etc.

The problem is that art, due to the lack of investment, belongs to privileged groups (as I do and I believe most artists still do). Art is a priority and should be a right, not a privilege.

​

-» 𝐏𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐏𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨 𝐂𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐚? 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐨?

R.: I walk around Guimarães, where I was born and raised. I have, together with my wife, a gallery focused on Drawing and Illustration - Area 55 -, which also serves as my studio. We will very soon open a small printmaking workshop that will serve to promote workshops, residencies or exhibitions that can be integrated into the gallery. As for individual projects, the most immediate and priority is linked to the realization of the engraving workshop that will also be used as my atelier. Afterwards, I have some exhibitions planned, but with the uncertainty typical of today's times, I can't say anything exactly.

​

#bienalinternacionaldeartejovemdevilaverde #XIedicao

​