Press release

Galeria Pedro Cera is pleased to announce its participation at Art 39 Basel, Art Premiere, Hall 2.1, Booth H7, with individual works by Ricardo Valentim and Pedro Barateiro, and publication by the Artists.

The Book.

"Temporary Collaborations" is a publication that works as an introduction to the collaborative project initiated by Pedro Barateiro and Ricardo Valentim. It includes a conversation with the artists and a group of theoretical texts, as well as a group of images selected as references in developing the book “Democratic Platforms – Mapping the World”. The collaboration originally sprung from a group of spontaneous discussions between both artists, in which they realized their common interests and shared ideas — such as reflecting on the concepts of democracy, globalization, and a possible definition of content in today’s society — with regards to their individual practices. The concept of collaboration became a central discussion topic in this project, for which they chose the format of having and organizing conversations between artists and writers with the aim of exploring the conditions and the production of this concept within an aesthetic practice.

Pedro Barateiro.

“Unsere Welt – gestern, heute, morgen 1910-1990” (Our World – yesterday, today, tomorrow 1910 -1990), is the title of the book used by Pedro Barateiro as source graphic material to build is new series of photos designated Encyclopedia. In these new works, Pedro Barateiro continued his labor of appropriation of pre-existent images taken from books and magazines, that he subsequently changes trough the application of acrylic paint, or ink, on the surface of the paper. The series Encyclopedia clearly refers to the thematic of historical construction and consequent loss of referents. Each of these new photos work out as individual reinterpretations for a given image that, at the time it was made, represented itself a certain interpretation of the world. For Pedro Barateiro it’s important to create abstract individualized areas of interpretation, and to avoid strict guidelines of reading. As Susan Sontag wrote in “Against Interpretation”, ‘Today is such a time, when the project of interpretation is largely reactionary, stifling. Like the fumes of the automobile and of heavy industry which befoul the urban atmosphere, the effusion of interpretations of art today poisons our sensibilities. In a culture whose already classical dilemma is the hypertrophy of the intellect at the expense of energy and sensual capability, interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.’

Ricardo Valentim.

Ricardo Valentim’s "Contents of the lecture 'Models of Democracy' " is the title of a group of sculptures that serve as discursive examples for the lecture "Models of Democracy". These examples will be formally analyzed to understand the meaning of their form and of their process of construction. Departing from this analysis, different theoretical connections will be established between different authors. The contents discussed in the “Models of Democracy” lecture will be presented in the form of a thirty slide projection (medium format). The thirty sculptures showed in the slides can be commercialized up to a maximum of five per country, and their titles (democratic platforms) will be defined according to the official language of the country in which the purchaser is based. By presenting different models with different names, a space is built beyond the formal multitude illustrated in the sculptures, and the relationship between them emphasizes the issues proposed for discussion in the debates.

Biographies.

Pedro Barateiro (born 1979 in Almada, Portugal, currently living and working in Lisbon) received his M.A. in Visual Arts at the Malmö Art Academy, Malmö, Sweden and his Advanced Course at Maumaus – School of Visual Arts, Lisbon. His exhibitions include Video Exchange/ Premuta de Vídeo, Rosenberg Gallery & The Commons, New York University, New York (2002), What are we doing here?, Spike Island Artspace, Bristol, UK (2005), Art Nova at Art Basel, Miami Beach (2006) and When things cast no shadow – 5th berlin biennale, Berlin (2008). He is producing a new video installation work for the 2008 Biennale of Sydney.

Ricardo Valentim (born in 1978 in Loulé, Portugal, currently living and working in New York) received his undergraduate degree in anthropology at the Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Lisbon, and his M.F.A. in visual art at the School of Visual Arts, New York. His exhibitions include Film Festival at e-flux at unitednationsplaza, New York (2006), Contrabando curated by Carolina Grau at Galeria Luísa Strina, São Paulo (2006) and Art Statements at Art 38 Basel, Basel (2007). Valentim has recently started a new series of works comprised of lectures including Growth and Culture at Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon (2008) and is producing a new project for Manifesta7, Trentino Alto Adige, Italy.