. Solo Show The idea of the colonisation of plants in adverse soil as a metaphor for an idea of the social development and evolution of man is at the base of this exhibition. My works are constructed through a web of attentions that I relate among each other. They start from two discoveries/investigations: Burle Marx and the rediscovery of the tropical flora and the Buçaco National Park, in the centre of Portugal (one of the first places fro the naturalisation of plants coming from the New World). The exhibition is made up of a three-dimensional work: a composite tree with graftings (Eucalyptus and Jacaranda, taken from a pruning carried out by the services of the Sao Paulo municipal police headquarters); a drawing made up of several Araucaria leaves from Buçaco; drawings/photos of several (improbable) views of the park; drawings on the wall of several sentence that I found in an interview with Burle Marx that talk about the instability/association/adaptation of plants. On the façade, a simulation of the Portuguese house with a 90 cm sash in sky blue with the installation of the (false curved) line of migrating swallows. These ceramic swallows are made from original moulds by the Portuguese ceramic artist Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (Caldas da Rainha Factory). Photo: Dimg Musa ( 1/17 )
Árvore compósita (Jacarandá e eucalipto), (2007) Log and branches (Rosewood and Eucalyptus), screws, cotton yarn Variable size ( 2/17 )
close-ups ( 3/17 )
Parque do Buçaco #682, (2008) Lambda print, green coloured pencil on paper 76 x 100 cm Photo: Dimg Musa ( 4/17 )
Parque do Buçaco #693, (2008) Lambda print, green coloured pencil on paper 76 x 100 cm Photo: Dimg Musa ( 5/17 )
Parque do Buçaco #700, (2008) Lambda print, green coloured pencil on paper 76 x 100 cm Photo: Dimg Musa ( 6/17 )
Parque do Buçaco #711, (2008) Lambda print, green coloured pencil on paper 76 x 100 cm Photo: Dimg Musa ( 7/17 )
Árvore no Jardim Botânico de Madrid, (2006) Green coloured pencil on paper 4x (35 x 50 cm) Photo: Dimg Musa ( 8/17 )
Diptic 1 - Parque do Buçaco em Coimbra, Portugal, (2007) Green coloured pencil on paper 2x (50 x 70 cm) ( 9/17 )
Diptic 2 - Parque do Buçaco em Coimbra, Portugal, (2007) Green coloured pencil on paper 2x (50 x 70 cm) ( 10/17 )
Photo: Dimg Musa Araucária no parque do Buçaco, Coimbra, (2007) Green coloured pencil on paper Poliptic 11 x (70 x 100 cm) ( 11/17 )
close-ups ( 12/17 )
Exhibition views ( 13/17 )
Exhibition views ( 14/17 )
With the extension of the botanical system and the introduction of a great number of tropical plants, the more naïve attempts at the research and collection of scientific data and material were eliminated after 1800. Now gardens obtained their new plants through the spread of colonialism. Plants were cultivated in large greenhouses built specially for the purpose, and at the same time they were examined for potential economic use. The hothouses of the botanical gardens were improved to suit the aim of combining exhibition with systematic research. ( ) Houses of Glass: A Nineteenth-Century Building Type (Paperback), Georg H. Kohlmaier et al. (Translated text) Text drawn on the wall Green coloured pencil Times regular, 150 pt ( 15/17 )
Andorinhas, (2007) Installation on the facade Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro porcelain and latex paint Photo: Dimg Musa ( 16/17 )
Photo: Manuela Marques close-ups ( 17/17 )