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Inside
Me celebrates the extraordinary work of Portuguese
artist Helena Almeida, in her first UK
exhibition. Over the last forty years Almeida has combined
painting, photographic imagery, performance and drawing
to explore intimacy, sensation and the limits of the body. |
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Although
the artist is always in front of the camera, she insists
that her works are not self-portraits. Dressed in black
since the early 1970s, sometimes with objects or furniture
found in her studio, Almeida assumes positions that she
has painstakingly choreographed. The resulting images,
to which paint marks are sometimes added in bold blue
or red, often depict ‘impossible’ actions
– paint marks entering the mouth, the artist’s
body extending beyond its limits. Many works also allude
to the experiences of touch and sound, or distance and
silence. Through these ‘pseudo performances’,
Almeida attempts to inhabit – literally, to get
inside of – painting.
Recent major exhibitions in Madrid, New York and Sydney
have brought greater international recognition of Almeida’s
significance, whose work is also held in many significant
collections world-wide. The artist has also represented
Portugal twice at the Venice Biennial, in 1982 and 2005. |
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Inside Me presents a compelling overview
of her work, revealing its overriding themes of surface
and depth, the real and imagined, inside and out.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated,
bilingual publication, published by Kettle’s
Yard, which is available from the Gallery
Shop for £6.95.
Helena Almeida: Inside Me is a Kettle’s
Yard exhibition curated by Filipa Oliveira
and Elizabeth Fisher, organised in collaboration
with John Hansard Gallery. Supported
by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Inside Me was first shown at Kettle’s
Yard in Autumn 2009.
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Images (top to bottom):
1. Pintura habitada (inhabited painting)
Acrylic on black and white photograph, 1976. Collection
CAM, Calouste, Gulbenkian Foundation
2. Estudo para um Enriquecimento Interior (Study for Inner
Improvement)
Acrylic on black and white photograph (series of 6), 1977.
Collection Portugal Telecom
3. Seduzir (Seduce), acrylic on black and white photograph,
2002.
Collection CAM, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
4. Tela Habitada (Inhabited Canvas)
Black and white photographs, 1976. Artist’s Collection,
courtesy Galeria Filomena Soares.
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