Emotional Derbies, by Bartolomeu Santos Curated by Rita Silveira Machado
2nd December — 5th January 2024

This dichotomy of belonging and alienation inhabits Bartolomeu Santos’ artistic practise. While adapting to the people and spaces that surround him, as well as the conflicts that such interactions create, the artist turns to the studio as a space for the resolution of these problems.

By exploring the studio as a safe space for experimentation, Bartolomeu’s work is born from the hope that finding practical and visual solutions to his artworks, might also lead to the transformation of his own internal dialogues and conflicts. Over time, the artist’s work tools became increasingly relevant. The sponge like sculptures, presented here, were primarily used to paint canvases. By slowly discovering their artistic qualities, the artist decided to elevate them to the status of sculpture. These “accidents” happen recurrently and form the basis of Bartolomeu’s practice in which the artistic process ends up transforming, little by little, into artworks.

The sculptures have an adaptable nature, they are simultaneously static and flexible. They mold to the space and change slightly each time they are installed through the performative act of removing the air from the bags and constraining the shapes. Over time, air begins to slowly enter the vacuum and the sponge returns to its original shape. The sculptures become softer, following the natural mutation of the material.

The Derby is a tense moment where each side pushes for what the other has. Someone must win or lose, but can there be a draw? After all, if these duels only exist in the short term, will they be relevant in the long term? Emotional Derbies is an exhibition about the weight of choices, the tension they create in those who make them, and their impact on others. The artist starts from the internal debate and the friction that arises from our choices (sometimes forced) to find a tangible resolution. His work is where he “breaks the tie” of the conflict.

Bartolomeu Santos (Lisboa, 1992) Lives and works in Lisboa. Postgraduate in Sculpture at FBAUL and with two long stays in Italy, which he also includes as training, he began individually with The Colors Remain the Same After the Sequence (Galeria Foco, Lisboa, 2021), followed by Oubliette (Ostra, Lisboa, 2022) — space he created to have fun with curators and artists. He has exhibited in group shows since 2015, notably Splash (MONO, Lisbon, 2022), and Tandem (2021), with the artist Hugo Cantegrel.

With a tremendous fascination for the space of freedom that is the studio, Bartolomeu dedicates his research to tools and the limit of what a work is versus the utensils to create it; of particular note are the In Media Res and No Job Title series. As a parallel to the remnants of doubt about the limit of painting or sculpture, he now operates between the limit of exhibition space and studio; or the private and the public. In his work, when dealing with a latent dichotomy, he needs geometry and rigor, but also organicity and intuitive adaptation, believing that it is the only way to do something relevant — to unite efforts from different places. His work is part of several private collections in Lisboa, Paris and Porto.