By Invitation

With the passing of the seasons, the flow of events, and shifting physical states, human connections emerge spontaneously, nurtured over time, and often extend through the shared occupation of space. There is an undeniable naturalness in the way we experience and express emotions—denial, repulsion, estrangement—yet also conquest, surprise, and euphoria, all unfolding in response to the rhythms of life.

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Believe this: the intimate exploration of both reality and imagination happens through the bold act of amplifying the self in order to reach others. This is how connections are formed—connections bound by intangible affection. No one envisions an invitation that is hollow and meaningless, forcefully torn apart. No one expects to truly step into another’s experience without first establishing an understanding—a contact that is essential. Arm in arm.

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From this moment, the gestures of Madalena Pequito and Maria Luísa Ramires reveal the very circuits of humanization. Their work embodies the transmission of moments, the significance of objects, and the imprint of meaningful connections. These are, in essence, artistic encounters that become life itself. This exhibition seeks to reconstruct the artistic creation space, immersing us in the intense, laborious process of artistic practice, where fleeting moments multiply (Bourriaud, Nicolas, Esthétique Relationnelle, Paris, Les Presses du Réel, 1998).

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It is through accumulation that a continuous pulse emerges—in tandem. Within their apparent disorder, no work remains untouched; every piece is reconsidered, debated, and reintroduced into dialogue. A fruitful discussion between two minds. Their works become gateways to perspective, charged with depth and intensity (Deleuze, Gilles, Différence et Répétition, Paris, PUF, 1968, p. 296), retreating or drawing closer depending on how they are approached.

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We lay out the fabric and follow the marks that lead us to safe harbors—like stones shaping a three-dimensional image, like signals shifting along the roads of an exhibition. As artistic bodies, constellations of images, they transform into another form under the observing eye—a metamorphosis (Warburg, Aby, Gesammelte Schriften II-I. Der Bilderatlas Mnemosyne, Berlin, Akademie Verlag, 2000).

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Bold, confident gestures fill the canvas with vivid color, reaffirming that emotions can be relived. Light emanates from suspended sculpture, video disrupts and experiments on an unprecedented scale, and images remain in a state of perpetual escape. There are aesthetic patterns that form real-life constructs and others that emerge as necessary montages to communicate identity. As Jacques Rancière wrote: "It is not raw reality that bears witness. It is the friction between boundaries and hierarchies of representation that defines the aesthetic gaze." (Rancière, Jacques, Aisthesis: Scènes du régime esthétique de l’art, Paris, Galilée, 2011).

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Every artistic action presented in “Por Convite / By Invitation” serves as a starting point—revealing multiple facets of personal discernment and immersive appreciation, as brought forth in the works of Madalena Pequito and Maria Luísa Ramires. It is up to us, as viewers, to see clearly, without illusion, navigating sincerity through both artificial and authentic means, within these deeply conscious individual practices.

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We must embrace both distance and proximity, advances and diversions, forming arguments that are logical yet never finite. Even fear and fortuitous confessions belong to the realm of the truly poetic. The relationships between us and the dialogues formed through art are at the heart of this exhibition. We bring forth these motivations so that the converging fragments of their artistic sensibilities may emerge—in perpetual breath.

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Text and Curation by

Francisca Gigante