This is the first collective Portuguese art exhibition of the 21st century to be presented in the United States until July 31st.
"Second Nature" aims to be a portrait of the recent artistic production in Portugal and an exploration of the relationship between human culture and the environment. The result is a unique portrait of the country's artistic production over the past fifty years, a period in which the idea that nature has undergone profound change. In this context, artists are the first to understand nature as a subject that is essentially produced by humans, a subject to be captured, filtered and reinvented by technical means that include the tools of painting, sculpture and photography. The artist's gaze is itself the creator of a "second nature," one that no longer belongs to "natural nature," but which is in the realm of art.
The exhibition brings together works created over the past two decades by 19 artists from different generations, each employing modern technologies and materials to capture, filter and reinvent the natural world, generating a "second nature."
In the Kreeger Museum are represented a panoply of consecrated Portuguese artists among them, Alberto Carneiro, Gabriela Albergaria, Julião Sarmento, Vasco Araújo, Alexandre Estrela or Fernando Calhau, just to name a few. The exhibition, which includes 38 works, is the first to go on a tour from the Lisbon Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) to the world. The curator of this artistic estate was in charge of the art historian Luísa Especial and the director of the MAAT Pedro Gadanho, former curator of the Department of Architecture and Design of the Museum of Modern Art of New York. All artwork were taken from the EDP Foundation's art collection, a compilation of contemporary Portuguese works comprising the permanent collection of MAAT.
For Helen Chason, director of the Kreeger Museum, it was an honor to "collaborate in this important exhibition with the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, an innovative and interdisciplinary cultural center." "Second Nature" continues this museum's long tradition of presenting diverse currents in contemporary art to Washington's international community. The exploration of artists' treatment of nature is especially appropriate as we continue to integrate the exhibition space of the museum with its surrounding forests. "
The Kreeger Museum is located in the former residence of Carmen and David Kreeger, in Washington DC, USA. Designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson, it is a museum space that houses a permanent nineteenth century collection of 20th century painting, sculpture and notable examples of traditional African and Asian art.
