Curators’ Series 10: Greater than the Sum

Curated by Kunsthalle Lissabon

at DRAF, Camden

4 May–28 July 2017
Roberts Institute of Art

The tenth edition of our Curators’ Series, a platform to support independent curators, duos and organisations to develop and deliver thematic exhibitions with newly commissioned works, presents Greater than the Sum, an exhibition by Kunsthalle Lissabon, a small contemporary art space in Lisbon.

Greater than the Sum is a pan-European collaboration departing from Kunsthalle Lissabon’s curatorial approach that places ‘radical hospitality’ — defined as sociability, solidarity and generosity — at the core of the institution.

The exhibition revisits some of the close collaborations with artists that have shaped their programme. The six installations present ideas of friendship, community and playfulness, and many are themselves products of collaborations.

With works by André Guedes, Diogo Evangelista, Mounira Al Solh, Céline Condorelli & Amalia Pica, Jonathas de Andrade and Laure Prouvost.

Public Programme

On 5 May 2017, there will be a curators’ tour and talk with artist André Guedes. The finissage on 29 July 2017 will feature Laure Prouvost’s Wantee.

Kunsthalle Lissabon

Kunsthalle Lissabon was founded in 2009 by Portuguese curators João Mourão (Alegrete) and Luis Silva (Lisbon). Kunsthalle Lissabon presents an original and dynamic programme in Lisbon, according to three principles: i) an ideological proximity to what has been defined as institutional critique and also to the later concept of new institutionalism; ii) a DIY ethics and aesthetics, caused by the current economic climate and that allows for fluidity, agility and speed of action and, most of all, for autonomy and independence from a more commercial approach; iii) a practice of close collaboration with artists. It has presented projects by artists including Céline Condorelli, Jacopo Miliani, Jonathas de Andrade, Patrizio di Massimo, Mariana Castillo Debal, Amalia Pica, Pilvi Takala and Ahmet Ogut.

João Mourão and Luís Silva are also contributing editors of CURA magazine and co-editors of the ongoing book series Performing the Institution(al), addressing recent developments in institutional practice. They were the curators of ZONA MACO SUR (2015–2017), the solo projects section of Mexico City’s contemporary art fair, and are curating Artissima’s new section Desegni, dedicated to recent developments in drawing. João Mourão was previously Head of Contemporary Art, City of Lisbon (2010–2016) and Luis Silva was General Coordinator and Curator: Galeria Miguel Nabinho, Lisbon (2003–2009) and Rhizome Curatorial Fellow at The New Museum, New York (2008).

Mounira Al Solh

Mounira Al Solh (b. Lebanon) grew up in Beirut during the civil war and lives currently in the Netherlands and in Lebanon. She is an artist who works with video and video installations, painting and drawing, embroidery, performative gestures and publishes with collaborators NOA magazine, that can only be read by appointment. Irony and self-reflectivity are central strategies of her work, which touches upon feminist issues and patterns of micro history, and is furthermore socially engaged, whilst it can be political and escapist all at once. Al Solh studied painting at the Lebanese University in Beirut, and Fine Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Her work has been displayed at the Venice Biennial in 2015 and as part of the Lebanese Pavilion in 2007. Her solo shows include Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut; Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon; Art in General, New York; CCA, Glasgow; and the Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam among other places. Group shows include Documenta 14 in Athens and in Kassel; The New Museum’s Triennial, New York; Homeworks IV and V in Beirut; Haus Der Kunst, Munich; Manifesta 8, Murcia, Spain; The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai; Al Riwaq Art Space, Manama, Bahrain; Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin and the 11th International Istanbul Biennial. Most recently in 2015, she has been shortlisted for the Abraaj Group Art Prize in Dubai. Al Solh is represented by Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut & Hamburg.

Céline Condorelli

Céline Condorelli (b. France) is a London-based artist who makes supporting structures; she is currently Professor at NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) Milan, and one of the founding directors of Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK; she was the author and editor of Support Structures published by Sternberg Press (2009).

Recent exhibitions include Gwangju Biennale; Liverpool Biennial; Sydney Biennial; Concrete Distractions, Kunsthalle Lissabon (2016); bau bau, HangarBicocca, Milan, Italy (2015); Céline Condorelli, Chisenhale Gallery, London; Positions, Van Abbemuseum, Netherlands; and the publication The Company She Keeps, with Bookworks (2014). Previous exhibitions include baubau, Museum of Contemporary Art, Leipzig; (as curator) Puppet Show, Eastside Projects, Gävle Konstcentrum and Grundy Art Gallery (2014); Additionals, Project Art Centre, Dublin, Ireland, Things That Go Without Saying, Grazer Kunstverein, Austria; The Parliament, ‘Archive of Disobedience’, Castello di Rivoli, Italy (2013); Surrounded by the Uninhabitable, SALT Istanbul (2012).

Jonathas de Andrade

Jonathas de Andrade (b. 1982, Brazil) lives in Recife, Brazil, and works with installations, videos and photo-researches. Recent exhibitions include 13th Sharjah Biennial; 32nd Bienal de São Paulo; Under the Same Sun, Guggenheim, New York; 11th Dakar Biennial, Senegal; 12e Biennale de Lyon, France; 2nd New Museum Triennial, The Ungovernables, New York; 12th Istanbul Biennial; 29th Bienal de São Paulo; 7th Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil; 32 Panorama da Arte Brasileira, MAM-São Paulo; The Right to the City, Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam; Better Homes, Sculpture Center Long Island City, New York; Tropikalizmy, Gdask City Gallery, Poland; When Attitudes Became Form Become Attitudes, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco; The Insides are on the Outside, Casa de Vidro e SESC Pompéia, São Paulo.

Diogo Evangelista

Diogo Evangelista (b. Portugal) lives and works in Lisbon. With a multidisciplinary practice, his work revolves around themes of desire and transformation, exploring the animist potential that the human imagination has to appropriate concepts, images and environments.

Evangelista graduated in Fine Arts from the Lisbon University School of Fine Arts in 2008. Recent exhibitions include: Utopia/Dystopia, MAAT, Lisbon (2017); The Eighth Climate (What Does Art Do?), 11th Gwangju Biennale, (2016); Hyperconnected, 5th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow (2016); Matter Fictions, Berardo Collection Museum , Lisbon, (2016); Magician’s Right Hand, Futura, Prague (2016); Hybridize or Disappear, Museu do Chiado – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon (2015); Grotto-Heavens, CAC, Vilnius (2014); BES Revelação, Serralves Museum, Oporto, Portugal (2014).

André Guedes

André Guedes (b. Portugal) advances in his work a social and political critique, exploring subjects (upon researching historic and literary themes) and information (Guedes often incorporates documentation in his artwork) as his artistic media, leading to installations, performances, stage sets and urban interventions.

Selected solo exhibitions include Pavilhão Branco, Lisbon (2017); Vera Cortês Gallery, Lisbon (2015); Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon (2014); Galerie Crevecoeur, Paris (2013 and 2010); Phakt, Rennes, France (2012); The Bluecoat, Liverpool, UK (2009). Group exhibitions include Démocratie, Tripod, France; I’m not here. An exhibition without Francis Alys, De Appel, Amsterdam (2010); World Question Centre, Athens Biennale (2009); and The Final Cut, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2005). He has also worked extensively in theatre and performing arts.

Amalia Pica

Amalia Pica (b. Argentina) lives and works in London. Her work includes sculpture, photography, installation and performance and frequently relates to her interest in communication. Recent solo exhibitions include Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the List Visual Arts Center MIT Cambridge, Massachusets, USA; the Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; and Under the Same Sun: Art from Latin America Today, South London Gallery, London and Guggenheim, New York. Forthcoming exhibitions include The Power Plant, Toronto and Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.

Laure Prouvost

Laure Prouvost (b. France) lives and works between Sawnsea and Molenbeck. She practices making video, sons, sounds and daughter, ob-jects and installation………………….here a long list of solo museum and institu- tions shows ……..here a long list of group shows. a line, interesting things, a coma, a line, a list of residencies and prizes. A Se- lection of solo projects including: a New Museum for Grand dad in Milano, A tearoom for grand ma in Derry, a karaoke room in Brussels, a new octopus ink vodka bar for Gregor in Rotterdam, A travel agency for an Uncle in Frankfurt, a lobby for love among the artists in the Hague and Luzern, tea bags, and wet floors.