ANDRÉ SOUSA * NUNO RAMALHO * SÉRGIO LEITÃO
“Geografia Imaterial” brings together an unpredictable collection (or so some may think) of the works of three contemporary artists. Manuel Santos Maia curated this exhibition, first presented at Espaço Mira, in Porto, based on the theme of the freedom of images. Three distinct discourses converge when their visual realization is driven by the desire to exist only in a world where, at times, they are required to justify or obtain permission to do so. They coexist in the same space—plural and democratic. “Images are not strange nor foreign to us; they risk a minimal existence by not seeking the capacity or strength to impose themselves upon others…” (in the words of the curator).
Through the photographic record of previous actions, Nuno Ramalho appropriates images he himself created and transforms them. Between form and formlessness, both in the human body and in the plasticity of materials—particularly the sponge—cut-out figures are (re)constructed and suspended.
We observe a body, shattered, faceless, and without identity. As if “engaged in a struggle with itself,”¹ the body simultaneously attacks and defends itself. The creator’s critical dialogue with the work, the constant inner dispute, and the universal struggle that arises from the traps each person sets for themselves, only to later try to soften the fall. Alternatively, it might be a dance between two people—perhaps two selves—floating in the air and allowing themselves to be guided by the stimuli they receive from the outside, from those passing by, from the wind blowing, or from any music someone might dare to play.
The idea of continuity and movement is present through the sequence of images placed side by side or confronted, provoking unexpected readings. Photography, which once depended on reality, now departs from it, gaining a new dimension through the conquest of surrealism over the imaginary.
In Sérgio Leitão’s work, the figure dissolves into patches of light and dark color, giving way to abstract landscapes. It is through the assemblage of objects, drawn from the artist’s personal archive and related to the space where they are displayed, that we become aware of “the astonishing reality of things.”² Whether overlapped or placed side by side, the images do not impose hierarchies—they coexist in harmony, because together they tell stories. There is a permanence to the images, though they are subject to change—they exist in potential, as they are open to numerous possibilities. Each assembly of objects is done in situ, as it must be, since the work directly engages with the space it inhabits. However, it is precisely this procedural work, commonly done in the studio, that is presented raw as an integral part of the artwork.
On the other hand, the futuristic cut-outs and iconographic drawings that recall comic strip graphics are related to André Sousa’s paintings, where energy is represented by one or more lightning bolts. A cloud, white and serene, gives birth to something untamable, defined by strong, contrasting colors: the lightning bolt, “which both impresses by its beauty and kills.”³ It is framed by limits that try to contain it but are unsuccessful. As though attempting to control something that would be impossible—a powerful atmospheric and energetic phenomenon captured and imprisoned on a two-dimensional support. The artist challenges the viewer’s gaze and imagination, inviting them to complete the drawing. As we look at the images, we hear a thunderstorm, which synesthetically crosses our thoughts.
Often symbolically associated with the fury of Nature or the power and order of some God-Father, it is here represented in a palette of colors that moves between darker and lighter tones, lending a certain irony and lightness to the image and the characterization of this symbol.
The idea of structure is a common thread for all three artists, who explore the concept in various ways. Sérgio Leitão organizes his compositions into rows, punctuated by small windows of light and color that contrast with black or white backgrounds. On the other hand, André Sousa plays with the limits of the support, compositionaly challenging the idea of finitude, as the drawing of the lightning extends beyond the canvas’s boundaries. The perfectly structured red grid on the Chinese paper serves as the foundation for successive attempts at calligraphic drawing; in contrast to the cotton canvases, where the underlying structure almost goes unnoticed due to the coarse and subtle folds of the fabric itself.
Meanwhile, the grid on the paper that adorns the frame of Nuno Ramalho’s sculpture is meticulously hand-filled. Patterns are created that, upon a more casual glance, might be perceived as automatic, as if they could have been produced by a machine. What surprises us is precisely the time and care invested in the detailed development of the drawing/pattern. The shadow work certain elements present, the varying pressures applied when ink is applied to paper, and the occasional flaws in the repetition of the stroke—all contribute to elevating the whole piece.
If geography is the science that studies and interrelates physical and human aspects of the Earth’s surface (the configuration of a given space), and the term “immaterial” refers to something incorporeal and intangible—then we might think of this exhibition, “immaterial geography,” as the language of the world (or worlds), through the human hand and its spirituality, meaning the nature of the spirit, which is related to thought or the mind; indirectly representing a thing or an idea.
Leonor Guerreiro Queiroz
¹Quoted from the conversation between the author and Nuno Ramalho.
²Pessoa, F. (1915). A Espantosa Realidade das Coisas. In Poemas de Alberto Caeiro (p. 83). Lisbon: Ática, 1946 (10th ed. 1993).
³Quoted from the conversation between the author and André Sousa.
Biographies
André Sousa was born in Porto in 1980 and lives and works between Porto and Frankfurt. He studied Visual Arts at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and has been regularly presenting his work since then.
He has held solo exhibitions such as Pince-Nez at Galeria Luciana Brito, São Paulo (2023), O Fundo das Águas at Galeria Nuno Centeno, Porto (2022), As Luzes do Tigre at Mira, Porto (2021), Conversa Inventada at Galeria Nuno Centeno, Porto (2020), Polly at Kunsthalle Freeport, Porto (2021), Milenário at Laboratório das Artes, Guimarães (2015), Millóns de Finais de Ano at Galeria Bacelos, Vigo (2014), Bonecos de Barro at Galeria Bacelos, Madrid (2013), A cantiga é de farra, tange o pandeiro, assobia-se no refrão at Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon (2013), Satekpunkts/ Vanishing Point/ Ponto de Fuga, curated by Margarida Mendes, at Kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Riga (2012), and Canas ao vento, folhas que rolam, flores esmagadas, areias que se dispersam… at FMAM, Porto (2012).
His work has also been featured in group exhibitions such as Complexo Colosso at CIAJG, Guimarães (2021), Bienal da Maia (2021), Entre Tecido at Pavilhão Branco, Lisbon (2021), Saudade at Fosun Foundation, Shanghai (2018), Can’t Do Nothing at Billytown, The Hague (2016), Bienal de Fotografia, Flor do Tejo in Vila Franca de Xira (2016), FOMO, curated by Marketa Stara Condeixa, at Syntax, Lisbon (2015), 12 Contemporâneos: Estados Presentes, curated by Suzanne Cotter and Bruno Marchand, at Museu de Serralves, Porto (2014), and Scultura-fantasma, organized by Gonçalo Sena, at Galeria Baginski, Lisbon (2012).
His work is part of the collections of the Serralves Museum (Porto), António Cachola Collection (Elvas), and Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea (Santiago de Compostela).
He has co-managed artist-run spaces such as PêSSEGOpráSEMANA (2002–07), Mad Woman in the Attic (2005–09), and Uma Certa Falta de Coerência (since 2008, with Mauro Cerqueira). In this context, he has conceived and organized exhibitions like 9KG de Oxigénio at Galeria Municipal do Porto (2019), Breathless, Silvestre Pestana at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, California (2017), and Sconosciuto at Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2014).
In 2007, he was awarded a grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for a residency at Spike Island (Bristol, UK), and in 2009, he took part in a residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin, Germany), where he published Fabel/Fábula/Fable with Tobias Hering. In 2016, he participated in a residency at Casa do Povo (São Paulo, Brazil), where, together with João Sousa Cardoso, he co-directed the film Na Selva das Cidades.
Nuno Ramalho was born in 1975. He lives and works in Porto. He holds a BFA in Sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (1999), a MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute (2008), and a PhD, which he started at Goldsmiths, from FBAUP (2020). His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions since 1999, including areas such as design, installation, sculpture, performance, sound, video, and curatorial practices. He is also responsible for “Playlist”, a monthly series exhibiting video art from Portugal, which he started in 2006.
Participated in solo and group exhibitions in Portugal, Brazil, Spain, the United States of America, Norway, Russia and Germany. In 2002 he was a resident artist at Triangle France in Marseille, France, and in 2004 he was one of the nominees for the EDP New Artists award. Fellow of the Fulbright Commission / Fundação Carmona e Costa in 2006 and 2007, he also received the Louise Woods Memorial Scholarship. His work is represented in institutions such as CAV, Novo Banco or Serralves Foundation, as well as in several private collections.
Sérgio Leitão (b. Monte Estoril, Cascais) is an artist trained in Visual Arts (ESAP and the University of Vigo).
He participated in the Independent Program for Visual Arts (MAUMAUS), multidisciplinary programs (STÄDELSCHULE, HORDALAND KUNSTSENTER + BIOREGION INSTITUTE), and sculpture/photography (AR.CO) and video art programs (FUNDAÇÃO CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN).
His works operate through an overlap of references to the avant-garde and hybrid formalizations, articulating images, sounds, and objects in constructing a singular poetic imaginary. Connections between nature and technology, weight and lightness, the multiple uses of language through image, written/spoken word, and the wandering body, as well as the questioning of boundaries between natural and artificial, shape his artistic practice, which has a strongly process-oriented character. Oriented toward an intersection of different narratives, his works seek to create spaces where the boundaries between reality and fiction dissolve. The intersection of various media, dialogue with presentation contexts, and the use of archives are some of his operational modes, often materialized in contextual installations that combine painting, sculpture, and video, as well as autonomous pieces in different media.
Selected projects have been presented at ZK/U, Berlin; P////AKT, Amsterdam; LE 18, Marrakech; LE CUBE, Rabat; BINZ39 FOUNDATION, Zurich; PROG, Bern; SITTERWERK FOUNDATION, St. Gallen; ATELIERS DE BELLEVAUX, Lausanne; KASKO, Basel; SALÓN, Madrid; FRISE, Hamburg; KONSTEPIDEMIN ART CENTER _ GOTHENBURG BIENNIAL EXT., Gothenburg; DETROIT, Stockholm; WEP FOUNDATION, Groningen; WEST CORK ARTS CENTRE, Co. Cork; POUSH/MANIFESTO_PARIS+/ARTBASEL, Aubervilliers/Paris; ATELIER LOGICOFOBISTA, Porto; THE GREEN PARROT, Barcelona; BRNO HOUSE OF ARTS, Brno; SÍM, Reykjavik; HIAP, Helsinki; RUPERT, Vilnius; HORDALAND KUNSTSENTER + BIOREGION INSTITUTE, Bergen; VIAFARINI, EDICOLA RADETZKY, and ACCADEMIA DI BRERA, Milan; MACRO _ MUSEO D’ARTE CONTEMPORANEA DI ROMA, Rome; PALAZZO BEMBO, in the context of the Venice Biennale, invited by the ECC and GAA FOUNDATIONS, Amsterdam/Leiden; DÍNAMO and MIRA, Porto; PARALLEL VIENNA, LLLLLL, and NOTGALERIE, Vienna; VASARELY MUSEUM, Budapest; MUSEUM OF AVANT-GARDE / IRA / MARINKO SUDAK COLLECTION, Zagreb; CENTERCOURT, Munich; KUB, Leipzig; VASiSTAS, Dresden; HfG, Karlsruhe; MAGT, Athens; IZOLYATSIA, Kyiv; VILLA BELLEVILLE, Paris; MALTA CONTEMPORARY ART, Valletta; ROSALUX, Berlin; GASTHOF, organized by STÄDELSCHULE, Frankfurt; MANIFESTA, Amsterdam; INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, Moscow; KULTURNI CENTAR, Belgrade; LANDPROJECT, Chiang Mai; PROTOACADEMY, Edinburgh.
He is currently preparing exhibitions at the ZENTRUM FÜR KUNST UND URBANISTIK, Berlin; POLO DEL’900, Turin; REDAKTION, Lucerne; and CITÉ INTERNATIONALE DES ARTS, Paris, invited by the French Academy of Architecture (Jul-Dec 2025), among other institutions.
He was awarded the FCT International Grant (2009-2013) and the SHUTTLE Grant for the exhibition GLI ORATORI – THE SPEAKERS, Venice, 2019. In 2024, his work was published by CAMERA AUSTRIA INTERNATIONAL _ LABOR FÜR FOTOGRAFIE UND THEORIE, Graz.
His work is represented in various public and private collections, including MACRO, Rome; VIAFARINI, Milan; VASARELY MUSEUM, Budapest; BRNO HOUSE OF ARTS, Brno; IZOLYATSIA, Kyiv; ECC FOUNDATION, Amsterdam; and the FOUNDATION/MUSEUM OF COMMUNICATIONS, Lisbon.