About the exhibition Os livros de Júlio Pomar: Itinerância da leitura, escrita, pintura, curated by the researcher Mariana Pinto dos Santos, one of the questions that could easily cross the viewer’s mind is the old comparison between the powers of the word and the image. In Júlio Pomar’s work, barring the obvious differences in the modes of expression of his images and texts, this separation is diluted to the maximum in the creative process. For this reason, the itinerary seems to be an adequate concept for the artist’s relationship with his reading and written or plastic creation processes, and also for the possibility is presented with at Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar. But it’s important to bear in mind the perspective contained in the exhibition’s opening text. «The painting and drawing that [there] are shown are like deviations or “variations”, according to the artist’s own words, of the literary or of writing itself, remaining close to or far from them». The proposed itinerancy attempts to take these deviations into account and, being fluid in itself, makes the spectator feel like he is on the open sea.

If, for the artist, creation is related to this variation-based composition, dribbling out any direct imitation of the text with the image, the chosen illustrations – which consolidate a vivid interest in the exhibited material – reveal this metamorphosis between the word and the image in his working process. Likewise, the viewer relinquishes the text and walks closer to literature in view of Pomar’s reinvention or variation. In an open space, taken from the architectural design of the museum itself, the spectator is plunged into a whirlwind of images that rises high up the walls, almost as if, in a magical movement worthy of Lewis Carroll, he were to tumble tiny through the illustrated pages. The impression is reinforced by the visual intervention of the artist Horácio Frutuoso, who transcribes (and draws) passages from literary reference works, which end up opening a visual possibility. But the cornerstone for the circumnavigation of Pomar’s imaginary lies more in the interplay between the various originals (in their different techniques) scattered around the exhibition walls and the showcases containing many of the illustrated books, opening up to other relationships in their micro-spaces. A richness that explores the opportunity to see the uncertainties surrounding plastic thought, as when we see the studies for the cover of the 1985 French edition of O Crime do Padre Amaro, or for the surprising difference in scale between the drawings for the illustrations for the book Corpo Verde by Maria Velho da Costa, and the work’s discrete size. The two forms have movement and specificity.

Something we can surmise in this exhibition is the fertility of Júlio Pomar’s illustrative work, a terrain of great experimentation. With no chronological route, even the least attentive visitor can notice the outcome’s multiplicity, evidencing his creative restlessness. Without ever losing the guiding line, the figuration, however sophisticated the abstract or material experience may be. In the same way, we can see the artist working with many of the literary classics and with essential works of Portuguese letters. The option of leaving this sea open to the viewer ends up requiring prior knowledge for those seeking to better understand the relationships of the exhibition. But nothing compromises a broader vision, full of references, which make this exhibition more than a point of arrival for visitors. It is an engine of curiosity, whose relationships point outwards, always according to Júlio Pomar’s images. Sometimes these relationships are built up in time or in the images themselves; other times it is the theme, without a stable structure. But all vessels are like that. There is some madness in being guided by the stars and some risk in being enchanted by the images, as if they were the sirens of our own Odyssey.

Os livros de Júlio Pomar: Itinerância da leitura, escrita, pintura is at Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar in Lisbon until 10 October.