you float in my mind

JOSÉ LOURENÇO

The relationship between built environments and the vast landscapes that surround them is a recurring theme in José Lourenço’s most recent works.

For the exhibition you float in my mind, this connection is particularly noticeable through a body of work that has the horizon line as its guiding thread. In this game that draws the viewer towards the geometric silhouettes of the architecture, always in the foreground, the sea and the sky, seemingly unreachable, serve as a vanishing point in this balance between natural and artificial. The horizon line, always drawn in the same position, is an analogy to the unique position of the Azores, an archipelago where the ocean is a constant sight in all quadrants, and the green fields serve as a counterpoint to remind us that we are on solid land.

Inspired by the modernist architects and designers of the 20th century, the artist depicts domestic environments, apparently bare, but incredibly human due to the details that show everyday life, such as an open book, a vase with flowers or a toy abandoned in the middle of playtime.

José Lourenço immortalises moments through the sharp shadows and textures that permeate his paintings. Between the dream, depicted with natural surroundings as far as the eye can see, and the hypothetical reality, materialised by the presence of mundane objects, the artist has created a habitat of his own, a shelter where people live and find protection.

Álvaro Tavares Ramos

May 2024