A exhibition — the first by the Portuguese artist in Paris – combines unpublished images with photographs already exhibited at Galeria Modulo, in Lisbon, and presents a dialogue with two works by sculptor Hans Kooi, creator of kinetic art, represented by gallery Denise René.
“Ballet Mécanique”, as the exhibition open until May 28 is entitled, is an essay on how time affects the construction of the photographic image.
The exhibition is a tribute to the experimental film created by Fernand Léger (1924), entitled “Ce ballet mécanique”, with the purpose of researching the cinematographic device that illustrates the intention of transfiguration of time and movement.
Fernando Marante was one of the winners, in 2019, of the Carte Blanche — Étudiants prize awarded by Paris Foto, one of the largest international photography fairs.
In his research, Fernando Marante “seeks to demonstrate visually that existence is just a speculation, an image that is not visible between two times”, indicates a text from the Parisian gallery.
“Through movement, the artist uses time as an instrument to play formally on variation, multiplication and addition, contraction and distension, accumulation and disaggregation”, he adds.
Movement, duration and accumulation are manifestations of time, which vanishes in voracity, unrolled in a perpetual thread of “present” moments, considers the author.
In these works, the artist also questions himself on “how to find images that we assume exist among the pieces of existence that he offers us through snapshots?”.
To give reality to his process, Fernando Marante creates devices to induce movement made of pieces of paper, plastic, glass, metallic cables or lamps, electric motors, fans and even his own body.
During this process, he finally expects the production of a totally unpredictable image, the result of several uncontrollable variables, which he calls “hypothesis images”.
Fernando Marante explores kinetic art and its techniques, creating post-photography “that approaches materials and questions the mechanics of visibility, exploring what remains of what is possible and what is desired”.
Born in 1973, Fernando Marante is a visual artist whose work has explored the effects of time on the construction of the photographic image.
He studied at Ar.Co Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual, in Lisbon, between 2013 and 2019, and also lives and works in the capital.
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