At the beginning of the 1980s, Julião Sarmento’s work apparently underwent a sudden transformation. In a break with the conceptual approach that he had taken throughout the 1970s and which manifested itself in photographic, film or text works, this period saw his work take an unexpected pictorial turn. However unforeseen, this new period in Sarmento’s work was much more than a passing whim or the result of sudden inspiration. In fact, the ground for it had been prepared by an important group of works which are, nonetheless, practically unknown to the public due to a fire which broke out at Galeria Nacional de Belém, where some of these pieces were stored, in August 1981. For Parousia three of these projects from the late 1970’s were reconstructed as closely as possible and under the supervision of the artist. As a whole, they not only shed light into a particularly obscure moment in Sarmento’s career, but also allow us to get a grasp at the current relevance of a body of work which was dedicated to investigating and testing the limits of the encounter between painting, object-based work and a broad and renewed sense of spatiality.

A fully illustrated catalogue containing an introductory text by the curator, Bruno Marchand, as well as an interview with the artist about the works presented accompanies the exhibition. As an extension to this catalogue, Cooperativa Árvore will be publishing a box containing facsimile versions of the files where Julião Sarmento has kept all the documentation that allowed for the reconstruction of the pieces now exhibited.

Parousia takes place in the context of Art Prize Casino da Póvoa 2013 awarded to Julião Sarmento in recognition of his artistic career. A monograph authored by Nuno Crespo and entitled Olhar Animal will also be published in November as part of the prize.

Parousia
25 October – 30 November 2013
Cooperativa ÁRVORE 
Rua Azevedo de Albuquerque, 1
4050-076 Porto
Portugal
For more information