In Lisbon, with works by Pedro Liñares, Pedro Barassi, Mariana Malheiro and Pedro Zhang, Monitor is for the second time displaying a look at several approaches to the contemporary practice of painting and, in particular, figuration. Now four years later, and following the same drive to explore, the gallery is presenting Pequenas Notas Sobre Figuração II – an exhibition featuring the artists’ multiple techniques and methods, but also a unique perspective that combines both their research and execution processes.

Four young painters set out from their direct surroundings – whether these are real, within arm’s reach, or from a dreamlike universe – and assemble a highly varied yet seamless display of possibilities and reflections. Altogether, they suggest a possible state of affairs, or of things possible in a certain condition, an invitation to bear witness to the unspeakable, to the sensory, to subtle presences that draw one closer and are never confined within themselves.

First of all, Pedro Barassi. His artistic output is typified by a cyclical ebb and flow of moments from which painting clusters are born. He rarely operates within the restrictions of a single continuous series and seldom spends a significant amount of time on one sole theme. Actually, the coincidence element, i.e., the fact that the artist is in a particular place and there is something else there too, is the motif that suddenly emerges. Barassi is particularly keen to include interpretative elements to round out his work. Whether more or less consciously, through the sheer force of his paintings, he depicts not only the image, but also perhaps a smell, a sound, pain and other sensations that he conceives and experiences throughout his creative process. He begins with an initial border, drawn on canvas, to form paintings that are not a literal rendering, but rather a combination, an intersection between a sensation, a splintered memory and his subjective impression of something. He shifts between these interests non-linearly and develops works by processing and embodying sensations and emotions, based on his own astonishment at finding himself amazed all over again.

Discussing the exhibition, he clarifies that his artistic practice is grounded in “constant watchfulness, where coincidence itself comes to play a crucial role”. This ongoing renewal is a deliberate strategy to remain alert and open to the endless possibilities that the world holds out to him. The absurd, new arrangements, lights, bodies, these all have a direct bearing on his nervous system and result in aesthetic offerings anchored within “overflows and continuities” ^[1]. He is steered by will and arbitrariness alike – one example of this, according to him, is the decision to paint a human figure simply because he had not done so for a long time – “Everything is a reason to paint” ^[2].

Objetos em cruz (2019), Estúdio (2023), and Azul memória (2024), works included in this exhibition, stem from different moments, but, like other pieces from different cycles, they all converge at a similar point. In this instance, Barassi mentions a primordial geometry (cross, circle and corner) as the thread that ties the three paintings together. They arise from an underlying individual force, but also from overflowing and unfolding spillovers, forming a plastic language of their own.

The organic synthesis between chance and the methodological process is the source of the new questionings and proposals that, whilst apparently vague, are deeply intentional and, dare I say it, essentially needful. These works do not contain any rigid limitations or specific rules, but the method takes center stage in their structure, much more so than the themes themselves. Painting is the gravitational center, the magnetic pole attracting and organizing, but without ever being closed in on itself. The artist expands and integrates other forms of expression inspired by a sensory urge into his creations, charting a course from one work to the next, thus creating a living organism in continuity.

Pedro Liñares’ artistic output is similarly connected to Pedro Barassi’s investigations, as both have the surrounding universe as their primary creative source and travel a road that is almost dictated by their circumstances.

On the occasion of this exhibition, I had an opportunity to visit his studio (one he shares with Pedro Barassi) to talk about his work, the pieces he is presenting in this exhibition and others on which he is already feverishly engaged. After just a couple of minutes, the artist reveals a seemingly small, upholstered stool with embroidered fabric, representing what is instantly identifiable as the flower pot at Monitor – or at least a version, a reinterpretation of it – Imagem do vaso de flores, 2024. I am describing this moment to – and this is where I grant myself the right to somehow simplify it (without stripping it of its underlying complexity) – describe his creative and research process, distinguished by an almost ritualistic sequence: bench – representation of the pot – drawing of the pot – painting of the pot. In his studio, Linãres harnesses different styles and techniques to fulfil the expressionistic potential of painting through appropriation^[3]. He is drawn to broaden and develop something that does not begin with him, and he is not interested in enclosing that same thing in his work. As such, his paintings represent objects, images, fragments, details that, for a variety of seemingly unrelated reasons, grab his interest – a film, a label, a book, a blazing sun. Liñares is not deliberate in his choices; quite the opposite: ‘I could paint a flower and invent it for that purpose. But I have it here, which restricts the representation possibilities. The things I see, the things that are nearby, define the trajectory’.  These reinterpretations frequently entail deconstructing the object (or its image). Transforming or even destroying the object leads the artist to produce something new, a renewed vision, imbued with a sort of dreamlike veil typical of his work.

As Mattia Tosti points out in the text attached to the exhibition, Liñares’ artistic style is profoundly rooted in drawing, using it as much in the run-up to the painting as in the final stages – Imagem da Prosa do Observatório (2024)^[4]. Consisting of nine paintings, this series is inspired by Julio Cortázar’s book From The Observatory. The artist looks specifically at the photographic essay of the astronomical observatories of Jaipur and Delh made by the author during his sojourn in India. Yet again: author – book – photography – drawing – painting. Liñares switches his interest to an abstract, half-empty background, gradually adding dense layers, altered by brushes or pointed tools, an exercise in which the result is as much determined by subtraction as by preservation, in a constant enquiry into the nature of painting. Using the energetic movements carried out in his studio and his restless spirit, the experienced, the felt, the read and the seen are juggled around to create, converting the end of something into the opening act of his painting.

Mariana Malheiro also draws on her artistic practice to build an intimate dialogue between the two visual languages – painting and drawing. As the artist explains, her creative process is invariably triggered by a sketch, acting as a sort of sieve: the idea either proceeds to become a painting or is scrapped. Archives, books and personal photos are the jumping-off blocks for exploring possible narratives. She is mainly interested in black and white photographs, where she finds greater expressive freedom: ‘free from the colour palette, the colours are not pushed on me, and I can work more closely with specific elements, such as a watch or a piece of furniture”^[5]. Form captivates her and provides the motto for spinning out new stories.

In the exhibition Pequenas Notas sobre Figuração II, Malheiro presents three works – Helena (2023) and, from the series Bruxas e Curandeiras, (Colheita) e (Crescimento), 2024. Helena (2023) belongs to a set created by the artist throughout the year, a process that is still underway. Distinguished by its depiction of just one figure – unlike the crowded compositions she has grown accustomed to -, this series is founded on research with both conceptual and formal concerns. Malheiro opens with a layer of paint, often monochrome, dense, and proceeds to draw over it, creating and exploring a feminine universe, a “domestic setting as a place of choice rather than a restricted one”^[6]. She portrays lonely and introspective moments^[7], private occasions as if we were only granted access to a brief moment, to a fragment of a narrative from an inner, sensitive world which is somehow entirely unreachable to the beholder. Malheiro’s women have all constructed a narrative with an intimate aura, where the artist combines the visible world and matter, bridging a gap that also reflects her inner strength.

The series Bruxas e Curandeiras was initially conceived for an Umbigo editorial endeavour^[8]. A unique take on the artist’s work, it brings female figures into direct connection with the natural world. By doing so, she alludes to the transformative power of nature and the intimate relationship these women have with the surrounding world, not just exploring the feminine nature, but also its symbolic and narrative potential. Each work in this series portrays a different moment – the collection, the laboratory or the greenhouse -, bringing us back to a realm where plant elements are cared for and put to good use.

Figures are traced over thick layers of fresh paint as loosely as sketches, attempting to bring them closer to drawing, adding depth and density to the world of people and elements she creates. Narratives are forged from the artist’s relationship with matter, from its elongation into images offering stories that no words could tell.

Pedro Zhang’s work also stems from idealisations of the natural world. Having been influenced by his childhood surroundings and memories, he has developed a profound and intimate connection with nature. He overcomes the need to accurately represent reality and instead works from everyday stimuli, crafting landscapes that explore the boundary between the real and the imagination, the past and the present, the material and the ethereal.

Speaking to us, he emphasised his quest to represent figures or forms in their most essential and pristine condition, rejecting the need to portray every single detail. O fim de uma aurora (2024) exemplifies his purpose of first bringing to light and giving birth to a certain element, i.e., the mountain – figure underwater – sky (aurora). A discovery takes shape gradually as the process goes on, creating the required moments of becoming, looking towards the essence of the forms in their ongoing transformations.

A alegoria da criação (2024) is a self-portrait in which the artist stands in an idyllic setting, in the magical universe he has built, one that is natural, intimate, with fleeting memories, and where he effaces himself to acknowledge that he is not part of it. Pedro Zhang constantly puts himself in the role of observer and, from a distant, dream-like memory, awakens the longing to paint. But the origin and nature of this memory are still nebulous as if they were fragments of a dream whose real or imagined meaning is unknown – O voo (2024). Using a wide range of materials and colours, he applies a distinctive palette of earthy and dark shades to ideally represent nature. We witness an intimate encounter between the visible and the invisible, an echo of an immemorial time that is throbbing, far away and subdued.

In Pequenas Notas Sobre Figuração II, and relying on figuration, the four artists show hypothetical paintings, intuitively mapping out their own vision. Monitor reopens on September 4 and the exhibition can be visited until the end of the month.

^[1] Artist in conversation about the exhibition

^[2] Artist in conversation about the exhibition

^[3] Exhibition text

^[4] Exhibition text

^[5] Artist in conversation about the exhibition

^[6] Artist in conversation about the exhibition

^[7] Exhibition text

^[8] Issue #88 Biophilia / Freedom