Joana Escoval: I forgot to go to school yesterday

I forgot to go to school yesterday is a collaboration between Kunsthalle Lissabon and Kunsthalle Tropical, an institution created in Iceland in 2012, consisting of the production and presentation of a solo show by Portuguese artist Joana Escoval. Taking into account Kunsthalle Tropical’s nature, an institution that exists without any physical structure with just a set of geographical coordinates, this project will be developed as a site-specific and ephemeral project.

The Icelandic landscape, such as the work of Escoval, is constantly changing: geology is submitted to the overwhelming force of the tectonic plates, producing and bringing a new rock surface, expanding the land mass of the island’s extreme weather events, the seasonal dance between day and night, light and darkness, the interior heat of the earth and the cold surface shape the land, shape the relationship of people with the land, and perhaps above all, shape the same relationship with the island’s own inhabitants. It is in this context that Escoval will develop her show, inscribing her work at the site where the Kunsthalle Tropical is. The visit to the institution, the trip from Reykjavik to the Icelandic wilderness final destination, is where her work will be materialized as an integral part of the project and what makes it possible: crossing the island till the final destination. The project’s title, I forgot to go to school yesterday, alludes to the breaking of a predefined idea that sets up a disruption in a normative system.

Joana Escoval (Lisbon, 1982) lives and works in Lisbon. A selection of her recent solo exhibitions include Lichens Never Lie, La Criée center of contemporary art, Rennes (2016); Whirlpools, Vera Cortês Art Agency, Lisbon (2014); Outlaws in Language and Destiny, Parkour, Lisbon (2013) and Mother Wild , Halfhouse, Barcelona (2011). Recent group shows include MATTER FICTIONS, Berardo Collection Museum, Lisbon (2016); Rhino-Pineapple, Murias Centeno, Porto (2016); Elapse / End, Maisterravalbuena, Madrid (2015); The lynx knows no boundaries, Fondation d'enterprise Ricard, Paris (2015) and Europe, Europe, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2014).

This project is supported by Direção Geral das Artes do Governo de Portugal. Kunsthalle Lissabon is generously supported by Foundation for Art Initiatives and by Teixeira de Freitas, Rodrigues e Associados.