After The Utopia Exhibition

Author: Eurico | 15th April 2011 | Blog

Opening:
Thursday April 28th
6pm – 9pm

Exhibition Open:
29th April – 6th May
1pm – 6pm

Acquire Arts Gallery
155 Battersea Park Road
London SW8 4BU
www.acquirearts.org

Acquire Arts Gallery is just a couple of minutes from Queenstown Road and Battersea Park overground train stations, providing frequent connections to the mainline hubs of Clapham Junction, Victoria, Waterloo and London Bridge.
The Battersea Park Road is served by buses 44, 137, 156, 344, 452, N44, N137.

Plasticina presents “After The Utopia”, a view on the Portuguese Freedom Day

In the early hours of April 25th 1974, an historic moment was about to happen in the Portuguese capital Lisbon…

At 12:20am the song “Grândola Vila Morena” by Zeca Afonso was broadcasted on the national radio as a signal to start a Revolution that overthrew a fascist regime and introduced democracy for the first time in Portugal.
This day marked a social and political turn in a country that for 48 years lived in the shadows of an authoritarian regime and could now enjoy freedom. The people danced, drank, sang, hugged, kissed and jumped… A unique day and a new dawn.

This exhibition marks the commission of a group of new artists given old stories/form. Each artist has been given an iconic symbol or moment of the time to re-interpret. Their aim is to explore the depth of shared meaning and experience, and the force and passion which typify this event in Portuguese culture. The documents given include posters, photos and newspapers. Each piece was used as a source of inspiration for a new creation. Both will be exhibited side by side, giving a perspective to the audience of what was made in the past and the creative response, preserving these iconic symbols within the work of a new breed of artists with different experiences and different concerns.

In 2011, the sons of the Revolution live free but with new issues… An acute economic crisis that shows no sign of abating, new cuts in various sectors, from culture to education. The dreams of utopia in the 1974 art are now viewed differently according with a new World reality.

Do these dreams of an ideal future still make sense in a World where everything changes so rapidly?

“After The Utopia” documents and re-documents one of the most important moments in the history of Portugal.
The idea of interpreting what was made in the 70’s and re-inventing it in the eyes of a new generation raised a new challenge as there’s certain echoes and parallels between the period that is documented and the “new struggles” of today’s reality.

AKACORLEONE (illustrator)
AURORA PAVÓN (illustrator)
CATRINE BODUM (painter)
DAVID OLIVEIRA (sculptor)
FIDEL ÉVORA (painter)
FRANCISCO VAZ (ceramicist)
JUCAPINGA (craftsman)
KRUELLA D’ENFER (illustrator)
MARIE ERR (illustrator)
MARIA IMAGINÁRIO (painter)
MICHAL DZIEKAN (illustrator)
MR CLEMENT (sculptor)
MR PHOMER (illustrator)
SÉRGIO PEREIRA (sculptor)

cover artwork by Maria Imaginário

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After The Utopia Exhibition

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