All I want: The Theatre of the Body
Discover the selection of works that integrate this thematic section of the exhibition “All I want – Portuguese women artists from 1900 to 2020” followed by the curators' text.
By Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Curators: Helena de Freitas and Bruno Marchand
Section 13 – The Theatre of the Body
This section brings together three artists who, at various moments in their careers, have taken the body as the centre of powerful, transformative narratives, including a provocative play on gender identities between the figure of a priest that Paula Rego represents dressed as a woman, and Aurélia da Sousa's self-portrait as Saint Anthony.
Study for Saint Anthony (Self-Portrait) (not dated) by Aurélia de SousaOriginal Source: Collection José Caiado de Souza
Study for Saint Anthony (Self-Portrait), not dated
Photograph
16,5 x 13,5 cm
Collection José Caiado de Souza
Saint Anthony (Self-Portrait) (c. 1902) by Aurélia de SousaOriginal Source: Museu da Cidade / Casa Marta Ortigão Sampaio
Saint Anthony (Self-Portrait), c. 1902
Oil on canvas
189 x 99 cm
Museu da Cidade / Casa Marta Ortigão Sampaio, inv. CMMOS 1978.31.0117
Mother (1997) by Paula RegoCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Mother, 1997
Pastel on paper mounted on aluminium
195 x 145 x 6 cm
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian – Centro de Arte Moderna, inv. 98P605
Vanitas, a triptych by Paula Rego, presents an image of absolute power, with the woman in the central panel rising as a triumphant figure over the ephemeral and death.
Vanitas (2006) by Paula RegoCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Vanitas, 2006
Pastel on paper mounted on aluminium
110 x 130 cm; 130 x 120 cm; 110 x 130 cm
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian – Centro de Arte Moderna, inv. 06P1372
Menez, on the other hand, explores the space of intimacy and solitude through the creation of oneiric and melancholic environments, where the work space, signalled by the painter's presence, becomes vital.
Untitled (1986) by MenezOriginal Source: Collection Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento, on loan to Fundação de Serralves – Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Porto
Untitled, 1986
Acrylic paint on canvas
155 x 190 cm
Collection Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento, on loan to Fundação de Serralves – Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Porto, inv. #0146
Untitled (1986) by MenezOriginal Source: Collection Manuel de Brito
Untitled, 1986
Acrylic paint on canvas
81 x 100 cm
Collection Manuel de Brito
Untitled (1988) by MenezOriginal Source: Collection Fundo de Pintura do Ministério das Finanças
Untitled, 1988
Acrylic paint on canvas
135 x 164 cm
Collection Fundo de Pintura do Ministério das Finanças, inv. 007975 SGMF
Untitled (1987) by MenezOriginal Source: Collection Elmano Lerma de Sousa Costa
Untitled, 1987
Acrylic paint on canvas
135,5 x 164 cm
Collection Elmano Lerma de Sousa Costa
The same territory of vitality and freedom where, in a fusional game of mirrors between herself and her model, Paula Rego at last represents herself.
Border Patrol: Self-Portrait with Lila, reflection and Ana (2004) by Paula RegoOriginal Source: Private Collection
Border Patrol: Self-Portrait with Lila, reflection and Ana, 2004
Pastel on paper mounted on aluminium
100 x 80 cm
Collection Paulo Teixeira Augusto
The Princess and the Pea (1978) by Paula RegoOriginal Source: Collection Manuel de Brito
The Princess and the Pea, 1978
Fabric, wool, plastic, metal and kapok
78 x 45 x 23 cm
Collection Manuel de Brito
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Cover of the exhibition catalogueCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation
This exhibition brings together about two hundred works by forty female Portuguese artists. Its primary objective is to assist in rectifying the systematic erasure that works by these artists – like so of their sisters elsewhere in the world – have suffered since time immemorial.
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The exhibition All I want: Portuguese women artists from 1900 to 2020, in its first moment at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, is part of the cultural program that takes place in parallel to the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2021.
Exhibition organized by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC) and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, in co-production with the Center of Contemporary Creation Olivier Debré, Tours, and with the collaboration of the Plano Nacional das Artes (Portugal).
Curatorship and text:
Helena de Freitas and Bruno Marchand
Get to know in detail the universe of artists presented in this section through a text by Lígia Afonso / Plano Nacional das Artes:
Paula Rego
Aurélia de Sousa
Menez
