The collective exhibition Against Abstraction opens tomorrow, 15 March (7pm), at the Centro de Arte Oliva, in São João da Madeira. Curated by Sandra Vieira Jürgens, it shows an array of works from different artists (about 50 and most of them Portuguese) and media (from painting to photography, video, sculpture or installation), all part of the eclectic Collection of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD).

The exhibition establishes a new perspective on abstraction, rethinking the artistic language which, after being created during Modernism and in the context of the vanguards, has suffered a number of curious and radical metamorphosis, extrapolationg, for example, the domain of the geometric abstractionism. In fact, the leitmotiv of the show goes beyond the domain o a single abstraction to include a dialogue of several artistic practices that opened its doors and claimed a position in contemporaneity.

Conceived in 1983, recently under the direct management of Culturgest (since 2000), the Collection of CGD has followed a strategy of acquisition which underlines the decade of 1980 and artists related to the Lusophony.

This exhibition, which has an itinerant purpose and may be seen until 2 June in São João da Madeira, is part of a broader programme that has been promoting the idea of decentralization. The show has already been exhibited at Centre of Arts and Culture of Ponte de Sor and will stop by the Sines Art Centre also this year to close this cycle.

The artist included in São João da Madeira are:

Álvaro Lapa, Ana Hatherly, Ana Jotta, Ana Maria Tavares, Ana Miranda Rodrigues, Ângela Ferreira, Ângelo de Sousa, António Ole, António Palolo, Bartolomeu Cid dos Santos, Bruno Pacheco, Cruzeiro Seixas, Dick Arentz, Domingos Pinho, Edgard de Souza, Eduardo Batarda, Ernesto de Sousa, Espiga Pinto, Fernanda Fragateiro, Fernando Calhau, Francisco Rocha, Gerardo Burmester, Godfrey Frankel, Isabel Pons, Jac Leirner, Joana Rêgo, João Paulo Feliciano, Joaquim Bravo, Joaquim Rodrigo, Jorge Pinheiro, José Loureiro, José M. Rodrigues, José Pedro Croft, Júlia Ventura, Kees Scherer, Leonel Moura, Luís Demée, Manuela Almeida, Margarida Reis, Miguel Soares, Nadir Afonso, Pedro Cabrita Reis, Pedro Casqueiro, Pedro Portugal, Peter Fink, Pires Vieira and Rui Sanches.