Something is always born or reinvented when a slip happens. With different visions and imaginations, Deslize (Slip) brings together at Salto the artists Adrien Missika, Aun Helden, Darlene Valentim, Gabriel Junqueira, Gabriel Siams, Henrique Biatto, Isadora Almeida, Janne Schimmel, Joana Coelho, Jonata Vieira, Mané Pacheco, Pablo Quiroga and Pedro Barassi, in an exhibition between the real and the fantastic, the natural and the artificial, the ephemeral and the eternal.

In the exhibited works we see hybrid bodies between the natural and the artificial, the human and the non-human. In Pedro Barassi’s paintings, the composition combines a crustacean and a female body in one. The hybrid body belongs to the imagined symbology, exploring the identity and interconnection of different life forms.

Also in a transfigured logic, Aun Helden proposes an audio-visual installation composed of four tablets, the mystery and the desire for the construction of a body capable of interacting with non-human or alien forms. The videos and their sound involve us in a futuristic, fluid and fantastic environment, triggering a unique sensory immersion.

Mané Pacheco shows PET [low maintance] (2021), a sculpture that gives life to a quirky creature, beyond the definition of animal and reality. The sculpture’s main body is composed of materials reminiscent of snake or fish scales, and is balanced on three copper tubes.

The creation of hybrid beings is even more intense in Pablo Quiroga’s works Pata de amgulado doméstico (2023) and Asa (2021). Artificial elements, such as a crutch and an umbrella, come together with natural items, such as dove feathers. The combination between artificial and natural objects creates interesting and poetic contrasts, prompting us to think about the symbolic meanings of dualities.

Between natural and artificial we find Ecrã 1 (2023) by Gabriel Junqueira. The work uses visual elements and materials related to the theme of the screen, with questions about the mediation of reality or the relationship between virtual and physical. The artist uses natural elements such as a trunk and flowers, blending with the main structure of aluminium, steel and glass. This duality between what remains and the ephemeral is also explored by Henrique Biatto in the installation Um dente, um chifre (2023), where the antagonism of materials takes place between charcoal and ceramics. Charcoal forms a circle on the ground and is the base for two pieces of ceramics. There is a ritualistic side associated with the circle and the charcoal, but the two pieces (representing a tooth and a horn) connect the work to the animal world, reminiscent of strength, protection, aggressiveness or identity.

Also, in a narrative about time, Gabriel Siams exhibits Ghostwork (2023), a pocket watch crystallised with salt. Although the clock is invisible, the form is recognisable for being part of the collective memory. Salt covers the entire object, creating the illusion that the watch has emerged from the bottom of the sea, undergoing a process of crystallisation. Mysterious and poetic, the work recalls the idea of time and transformation. The crystallization of salt on the pocket-watch also suggests a fusion between natural elements and everyday objects, making us contemplate the interaction between human and cosmic time.

Political perspectives and social issues are addressed by Jonata Vieira, Adrien Missika and Isadora Almeida. Jonata Vieira intervenes on Brazilian Real banknotes, stamping them with prints of burning flames. The title Futuro convertido em carbono(2021) implies a critique of capitalism as an agent that compromises the future of the Earth.

Adrien Missika exhibits Instruction of Care (2022), a mural composed of posters with sentences in German “Dünge Alles Unkraut” (Fertilize all herbs), “Giesse Alles Beikraut” (Water all herbs) and “Reinige Pflanzen”(Clean the plants). The instructions on the repetitive posters arouse a sense of urgency about caring for the natural environment and exploring the relationship between humans and nature.

In the work Vídeo: Integrantes do MST bloqueiam rodovias durante protesto em Goiás [Séroe Goyazes] (2021) by Isadora Almeida, the artist positions in the field painting a scene taken from a video about a protest made by the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST), which in 2016 blocked roads in Goiás, Brazil.

Contemplation and the poetic subtleties of everyday life are in the pieces by Janne Schimmel, Darlene Valentim and Joana Coelho. Janne Schimmel shows Case Mod, 2 (2022), a Gameboy and three cartridges. The scenario of this game is always the same: a landscape and a character walking through it. The only difference between each cartridge is the time of day: one of the games takes place in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The game also lacks many interactions, we can only walk forwards or backwards. With this limitation, Schimmel subverts the nature of traditional games, usually characterised by many interactions or constantly changing elements. The repetitive scenery is a contemplative and meditative experience, allowing viewers to enter into the atmosphere and subtleties of the different phases of the day.

On a vertical screen, Darlene Valentim presents Diário das nuvens (2023), a series of videos initially produced for Instagram stories, which now move from social media to the gallery. Challenging conventions about where contemporary art can be shown, Darlene Valentim questions the boundaries between digital and the physical, ephemeral and permanent. The videos explore the observation of clouds to decode what they tell us, always with a light and peculiar approach. In a contemplative, philosophical and existential exercise, Valentim invites her followers to share perceptions and feelings about clouds, turning their symbolic decoding into a collective experience.

Contributing to the contemplative experience, there is also the work of Joana Coelho, Hunter (2022), composed of two drawings made with dry pastels. The blue and salmon tones, combined with the striking green strokes, create a sense of fluidity and movement, fuelling the contemplative experience.

Deslize is body and matter, creating an immersive experience through direct interaction with the artwork and the dualities inherent in the chaos of the world. But, above all, Deslize is unique in its way of creating and presenting contemporary art.

The exhibition was curated by Ana Grebler and Ian Gavião, and can be visited until June 17, 2023 at Salto, Lisbon.