Super Gibraltar I (2015). DV Pal, colour, sound, 10’54’’. Photo: Bruno Lopes
Super Gibraltar I (2015). DV Pal, colour, sound, 10’54’’. Photo: Bruno Lopes
Exhibition view with Gibraltar I (2015), Gibraltar II (2015) and Gibraltar III (2015). Photo: Bruno Lopes
Exhibition view with Gibraltar II (2015) and Gibraltar III (2015). Photo: Bruno Lopes
Exhibition view with Gibraltar II (2015) and Gibraltar III (2015). Photo: Bruno Lopes
Exhibition view with Gibraltar II (2015) and Gibraltar III (2015). Photo: Bruno Lopes
Gibraltar II (2015). Indian ink and coloured indian ink on paper, staples, steel tube, steel wire. Photo: Bruno Lopes
Gibraltar II (2015). Indian ink and coloured indian ink on paper, staples, steel tube, steel wire. Photo: Bruno Lopes
Gibraltar III (2015). Graphite, marker and tracing paper on paper. Photo: Bruno Lopes
Gibraltar III (2015). Graphite, marker and tracing paper on paper. Photo: Bruno Lopes
Luís Lázaro Matos: Super Gibraltar
Kunsthalle Lissabon presents Super Gibraltar, Lisbon-based Luís Lázaro Matos's first solo show in Portugal, taking place from October 16 to December 19, 2015.
Luís Lázaro Matos's interest in Gibraltar comes through a text by Portuguese author Ferreira de Castro published in A volta do Mundo [Around the World] magazine in 1942. In this text, the author eloquently explains the existence of a belief in Gibraltar claiming that while the Barbary macaque (known as Gibraltar monkey in Portuguese) inhabits the Rock, the territory will remain under British rule.
The Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) is an Old World monkey that currently inhabits some areas of the Atlas Mountains in northern Africa and the Rock of Gibraltar in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the only population of wild monkeys in Europe.
The superstition narrated by Ferreira de Castro, linking ecology and geo-politics in a seemingly inexplicable way, led Lázaro Matos to an idea that he had already been exploring before, that of reproductive futurism, i.e. the idea that the future (or the maintenance of the present) is derived essentially from a biological process, that of reproduction. In the case of Gibraltar, and its superstition, the political status of the territory is thus dependent on an animal which, although being a primate and so close to humans, is fundamentally irrational.
Luís Lázaro Matos (Évora, 1987) lives and works in Lisboa. Lázaro Matos studied Painting at Faculdade de Belas-Artes, Universidade de Lisboa and Art Practice at Goldsmiths College, University of London. A selection of the shows featuring his works includes One! Two! Three! Position!, Hinterconti, Hamburg, Germany (2013); Houses on Punta Massulo (Houses for Exile), Neoterismoi Tomazou, Nicosia, Cyprus (2013); Ein Raum und der hatte keine Richtung, Echoraum, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany (2012) as well as the presentation of Models for Solitude, Old School, Lisbon (2014). Lázaro Matos was nominated for the 2013 edition of EDP Foundation's Young Artists Award.
Kunsthalle Lissabon is a project financed by Governo de Portugal/Secretaria de Estado da Cultura, through Direção-Geral das Artes. Kunsthalle Lissabon is generously supported by Teixeira de Freitas, Rodrigues e Associados and by EDP Foundation.