This temporary exhibition is produced by Museu do Caramulo with the sponsorship of Galeria Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon and the Galeria Fernando Santos, Oporto, as well as BPI and the Câmara Municipal de Tondela.
“This is an exhibition about roads. And curves. It is about speed. It is an exhibition about the finishing line and all that is speed in this immobile time. I am alone, at the wheel of the car that will cross the finishing line. And I look to the side. And in that micro second, I find the initial accident and I want to be the outside. I want to be the kerb, the stray dog, the tramp or the spectator. And to go to the place where speed slows down. In that place, from the outside, I see the machine passing by in a declining vroooommm like a Doppler effect.”
“’Rush is a straight line with a curve at the end. It’s where the kerb ends, where the stray dog and the tramp pass. Everybody looks at the photo finish of a high-speed car in a blurred freeze. And that is the finishing point, at the crossroads of the chequered flag and the still-time-car, the place of maximum speed. It’s the final lap! (Yes, that is the secret).”
“My thanks to Juliano Garcia Pessanha, a Brasilian writer and a friend of mine, for reminding where the “kerb”, the “stray dog” and the “tramp” are. Because we all know that we are spectators.”(João Louro)
About the artist
João Louro lives and works in Lisbon. He studied architecture at the Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa and painting at the Escola de Arte e Comunicação. His work encompasses painting, sculpture, photography and video.
A natural offspring of Conceptual Art and Minimalism, João Louro tries to transcend the romantic paradigm through his work, by giving the leading role to the viewer, who, he believes, is the only one who can complete the work of art.