This exhibition is founded on strict structures with a touch of playfulness and irony, encapsulated by the phrase “anything can be bent under the right pressure.” It features five artists, including Elvira Amor, a Madrid artist known for her mastery of contrasting and dominating color combinations. Her previous exhibitions focus on the interplay of negative and positive spaces, filled with blocks of color and a keen awareness of structure.

 The second artist is Sihan Goo, a young Chinese artist whose work contrasts with Elvira’s through its focus on decomposing, destructuring, and self-erasure. Sihan’s approach to finding meaning involves specific objects or interpretations, with deconstruction revealing negative spaces where blurred silhouettes and rich textures evoke an uncertain past, helping build the artist’s imaginative world.

Francesco Arena presents two pieces that differ entirely in their medium, both derived from historical, political, and social events that affect us. Structurally, his works challenge conventional compositions, sometimes obscuring the intended narrative. By presenting his pieces as metaphorical blocks, he highlights events that are not always literal.

In a similar historical and punk-inspired vein, Anne-Lise Coste showcases strong, impactful pieces. One represents resistance, while the other is an unpredictable, fast, naive, immediate, and simple composition, allowing her work to be both structure and final product.

To conclude the show, Joe Cheetham offers artworks filled with emotion and contemporary portraiture that reflect our gaze, exploring how we can be both happy and sad simultaneously. His insightful, sensitive works are masked as exaggerated, with deep emotions often following this exaggeration.

Zé Ortigão