Hyper baroque

"Clearly, baroque is fantastic," Gregg Lambert said. He did not fully understand this expression before the project "Thinking Baroque" took place. We can understand and interpret the baroque in two general ways: rationally, as a historical period, and consider its formal aspects: the chronological margins are defined and the masters are recognized, the principles of composition and characteristic elements are described and preserved with poetized society and spirit of that time. Alternatively, we can feel the Baroque as a transitional phenomenon, which can occur at any time, and which brings all matters to its maximum: the skill, the science, the emotion, the illusion, the violence. As one of the participating artists, Miguel Rodrigues, notably remarked, we are actually approaching a hyper baroque era; we can witness it, it is in the abundance of information, possibilities and technologies, in the full blossom and full acceptance of any ugliness and of any beauty. His installation, specifically made for "Thinking Baroque", is an assemblage of plumbing tubes and bent plastic: it shines with gold, it attracts with the softness of rich red velvet. Isn’t this a sublime of modernity?

This is an excerpt from the text of the catalog by:

Madina Zingashina, curator of the project ART-MAP Braga 2017

The baroque foretold modernity

The common impression about the baroque is that it is an irregular, obsolete, exaggerated, and necessarily royal, affiliated with the inquisition, aligned with slavery and colonialism. And here I would like to reflect a bit. Somewhere in the late Renaissance, in the occidental world, begins the democratization of art, and the Baroque, paradoxically, made a contribution to this. Resulting from the reactional intention to reaffirm the power of the church and the monarchy, Baroque concepts seek to communicate with popular taste, using gold, illusion, sculpture and decoration. Hence it brought to a maximum scale and impact all forms of art, from architecture to music, in order to convence with the magnificence of the celestial kingdom but ended up confirming the beauty and pleasure of earthly existence, finishing at once and for all with the remnants of Gothic asceticism. Aiming to convey to an illiterate population, the Baroque spread knowledge and enlightenment; inspired by the science and discovery of the world, the baroque foretold modernity.

This is an excerpt from the text of the catalog by:

Madina Zingashina, curator of the project ART-MAP Braga 2017

"Thinking Baroque"

An artwork of art usually gets its title after being complete or during its creation, but an exhibition instead begins with a title. The title is the subject, the colour and direction of all future production; the title significantly defines the success of the exhibition. The subject of Baroque seems like a first choice for Braga, although, it was not an easy choice from the curatorial point of view. Announcing "Thinking Baroque" as an open call for artists, felt a little like a gamble, I was excited. In "Thinking Baroque" is missing "the"; which I was aiming for, as it meant for evoking the baroque way of thinking. I was not sure what how the artists would react: will this challenge inspire some outstanding relevant proposals or will it merely attract the repetitions of the decorative elements of what is called the "Baroque style" or mannerism? My gamble paid off. The artistic works presented for the exhibition have notably little to do with historical recollection, wether it be the narrative or the technical solution; these artworks are contemporary; but still they are baroque. Therefore, there are so many ways of thinking Baroque; and agglomerating this artistic intention in Braga has its charm and sense and its shock. The shock comes from the habitual reduction of the baroque to its decorative manifestations. The city's architecture claims its full historical rights to authentic baroque heritage; introducing new interpretations, in the form of artworks, unfreezes the margins of habitual perception and promises a continuity for the great tradition. The Baroque heritage, deservingly, serves here as an aesthetic bridge between the archaic and the modern: the stories role into vital shapes and dance, the metal sings, the gold shines, it is not possible to compete with this mastery with of past architects and artists; but it is possible to engage in a dialogue.

This is an excerpt from the text of the catalog by:

Madina Zingashina, curator of the project ART-MAP Braga 2017