Lot Essay
Desenho veut dire « dessin » en portugais. Après s’être intéressée à la déconstruction de la toile et de la peinture au commencement de sa carrière, Helena Almeida décide dans les années 1960 d’explorer les œuvres sur papier, l’action de dessiner et la création qui en émane. Lorsqu’elle travaille dans son atelier, l’artiste prend l’habitude d’enregistrer via une caméra et un appareil photo l’action qu’elle est en train de réaliser. En 1976, elle affirme ainsi : « Je suis passée à la photographie par le dessin ». En réunissant différents médias, Almeida se questionne sur la proximité et les frontières des différentes disciplines, tout en repoussant l’étanchéité supposée de leurs limites.
En 1999, Helena Almeida réalise Desenho. Ce tirage unique de grand format est percutant tant d’un point de vue esthétique qu’en ce qu’il synthétise le travail sur le dessin des débuts de l’artiste, ses autoportraits et ses interrogations récentes sur le corps humain. En haut de l’image, un espace laissé apparent dévoile les coulisses de la photographie : ce n’est pas qu’une composition statique, mais également une prestation, un geste de l’artiste. Sa main colorée de pigments noirs opaques et intenses frôle le papier et fait de cette œuvre un objet hybride entre photographie, performance et dessin.
Desenho means 'drawing' in Portuguese. After becoming interested in the deconstruction of the canvas and painting early in her career, Helena Almeida decided in the 1960s to explore works on paper, the action of drawing and the creation that stems from it. When she worked in her studio, the artist developed the habit of using a video camera and still camera to record the action she was performing. In 1976, she explained: 'I got into photography through drawing'. By blending different media, Almeida raises questions about the proximity and the borders of various disciplines, while pushing against the perceived impermeability of their boundaries.
In 1999, Helena Almeida created Desenho. This single, large-size print is powerful from an aesthetic point of view and because it synthesises the artist's early work in drawing, her self-portraits and her more recent examinations of the human body. At the top of the image, an intentionally visible section pulls back the curtain on the photographer: it is not just a static composition, but also a performance, a gesture made by the artist. Her hand, tinted with intensely opaque, black pigments, brushes the paper and makes this a hybrid work: photo, performance and drawing.
En 1999, Helena Almeida réalise Desenho. Ce tirage unique de grand format est percutant tant d’un point de vue esthétique qu’en ce qu’il synthétise le travail sur le dessin des débuts de l’artiste, ses autoportraits et ses interrogations récentes sur le corps humain. En haut de l’image, un espace laissé apparent dévoile les coulisses de la photographie : ce n’est pas qu’une composition statique, mais également une prestation, un geste de l’artiste. Sa main colorée de pigments noirs opaques et intenses frôle le papier et fait de cette œuvre un objet hybride entre photographie, performance et dessin.
Desenho means 'drawing' in Portuguese. After becoming interested in the deconstruction of the canvas and painting early in her career, Helena Almeida decided in the 1960s to explore works on paper, the action of drawing and the creation that stems from it. When she worked in her studio, the artist developed the habit of using a video camera and still camera to record the action she was performing. In 1976, she explained: 'I got into photography through drawing'. By blending different media, Almeida raises questions about the proximity and the borders of various disciplines, while pushing against the perceived impermeability of their boundaries.
In 1999, Helena Almeida created Desenho. This single, large-size print is powerful from an aesthetic point of view and because it synthesises the artist's early work in drawing, her self-portraits and her more recent examinations of the human body. At the top of the image, an intentionally visible section pulls back the curtain on the photographer: it is not just a static composition, but also a performance, a gesture made by the artist. Her hand, tinted with intensely opaque, black pigments, brushes the paper and makes this a hybrid work: photo, performance and drawing.