The concept of drawing, in the collective imaginary, refers to an idea of ​​a graphic and two-dimensional representation on a given surface. In Ser Sombra (Desenho), António Bolota displays drawings with three-dimensional elements activated by the projection of a light beam. A dialogue between work and light is proposed, which results in a shadow, determined and specific to each work, which acquires a special emphasis by becoming an integral part of it and an essential element to its composition.

In this context, the drawing is presented and developed through the concepts of matter, light and shadow, often found in the discipline of architecture and embodied through materials that also belong to it, such as the raft and the k-line, used by architects in the maquette conceptions (three-dimensional models of study).

Taking as a reference the concept of expanded field in sculpture, proposed by Rosalind Krauss, drawing also develops itself in an expanded field, since it questions and challenges the inherent two-dimensionality and summons other subject matters and disciplines, prompting the spectator to dive into a constant questioning of the act of standing before a drawing, the subversion of it, or before a sculpture.

The works are organized sequentially and appear to convey, as a whole, the idea of ​​the exercise of repetition and difference, referring to a reflection around the concept of Gilles Deleuze, who argues that “repetition can never be of the same element, since the very act of repeating is a differentiating element in itself”. This is the difference that attracts and stirs in the spectator the desire to travel through the exhibitive space and to understand the different moments. In the first room, the proposed drawings are mostly linear compositions of a painted raft. The plane is introduced in two works that punctuate the group and guide the exhibition’s progress: the first in a central position, through a line that acquires the thickness of a plane, the other through the presence of a yellow triangle, which refers us to the discovery of the second moment. In this nucleus, the plane is explored through the exaltation of its possible tri-dimensionality relying on the fold and on a chromatic palette that is mostly white, grey and black. The third room presents compositions of the plane, line and colour elements, in a universe that swings between the Russian constructivism (associated to plastic arts that uses geometric elements and primary colours) and the De Stijl movement (associated to the architecture that had, as principle, the use of abstract geometric shapes and functionality-related primary colours), both avant-garde movements of the 20^th century. The exhibitive experience ends with a space that allows the composition of tiny elements that resort to plastic and morphological explorations presented in the previous rooms. A dialogue between the line, the plane, the matter, the colour, the light, and the shadow is proposed, in a resumé of the moments previously experienced.

The shadow of the drawing or the drawing of the shadow is an allegorical binomial constant and found in this exhibition.There is no truth, there is room for subjectivity that allows different interpretations, which vary between visitors.The expanded field proposed in the drawing gives room to proposals beyond the preconceived two-dimensionality, allowing different interpretations by the spectator, as well as endless connections to other fields, beyond the architecture.

Ser Sombra (Desenho)is an experience proposed by António Bolota, curated by Nuno Faria, on display at Fundação Carmona e Costa until 18 May.