Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art has the pleasure to present its third Luís Paulo Costa solo exhibition.

In this show, Luís Paulo Costa displays four new pieces, which stand between purposeful banality and theatrical staging.

Banality, free from the depreciative meaning the word frequently acquires, is used here as a strategy of extreme realism and simultaneous annulation of the object, which the artist has been recently employing in his work. In the new set of pieces presented here, the artist’s aesthetic and conceptual program remains, though his production is now ruled by a new paradigm: painting is being slowly relinquished in favor of the sculptural dimension of the objects, and especially of their enveloping space. The exhibited pieces explore such concepts as the simulacrum, anticipation, disappointment, inaccessibility and invisibility.

In Welcome, an action that will take place at the gallery’s entrance for just 30 minutes (from 22h00 to 22h30) and only on the opening night, a group of photographers, hired by the artist, will pop their flashes at all the people entering the space. Bathed in a glow of lights, visitors anticipate (given the media hubbub) a major event, or maybe the presence of some celebrity. Inside the gallery, all they see is a regular opening night.

In the gallery’s first room, we find Construção (quase pronto). Luís Paulo Costa has built a wall that makes part of the gallery space inaccessible. The way it was built shows clearly that the spectators have been left on the outside of the construction. There are sounds of people setting up an exhibition: electric saws, power drills, hammers. Perhaps the event anticipated at the entrance is happening inside this space. Once again, we are denied access.

Boas intenções is the piece that is most reminiscent of Luís Paulo Costa’s previous works. A cardboard box – laid open on the ground, with holes on its sides – leads us to believe that there is something inside it. The silence reigning in the piece once again thwarts our expectations. An inquisitive gaze will discover that everything in the box is painted. This is a reconstruction of the object itself, which acquires, through the action of painting, a new identity.

Finally, It can be anything (with light) occupies the whole of the lower gallery. It consists of a wall, painted in Chroma green, and a lighting structure, like the ones used in theatre. Chroma green is the color used to paint a backdrop for the film. The actors perform in front of that backdrop, which will be later replaced by CGI scenery. This wall is used as a space for contemplation, as a place of potency and projection.