«Sfumato» at Tabacalera Madrid, Spain
20.09 – 10.11.2019
a solo exhibition curated by Begoña Torres González
«(…) Rui Macedo surprises us once again with this new exhibition, on display at Los Estudios de Tabacalera, exploring a theme – ‘sfumato’, smoke, invisibility – that is not so far removed from others that have inspired his projects in recent years, such as the one I had the opportunity to organise at the National Museum of Decorative Arts in Madrid. In all his works, the Portuguese artist displays a skilful combination of pictorial mastery, a vast knowledge of classical and Baroque art, as well as of artistic culture in general, whilst never neglecting the significant conceptual weight of his work, which always revolves around the themes of illusion, duplication, trompe-l’œil, the concealment of reality or deception, the ephemeral, in other words, the intentional distortion of the reality we perceive, which he often conceals by rendering it invisible
Trompe-l’œil, from the French trompe-l’œil, is a technique used in painting since classical times, which manages to distort our visual perception by deliberately playing with perspective and other optical elements, setting a ‘trap’ for us so that we see what is not there. The artist then becomes an illusionist who seeks to make the audience ask themselves: Is what I see real, or is it merely a representation? (…)»
Begoña Torres González, excerpt from the catalogue essay, 2019
« Some creators are able to stand on the dangerous edge that separates the wonderful from the banal, the extraordinary from the unexpected, and what we have at hand in their particular everyday lives It is there, and not in a hollow transcendentalism, that the singular must emerge, penetrating deeply into an etymologically idiotic reality in order to reach other intensities, works like those of Rui Macedo, which I dare to call magnificent, in which the brilliance of pleasure and the vibration of the concept do not have to be antagonistic.»
Fernando Castro Flórez, excerpt from the catalogue essay, 2019
« (…) Rui Macedo's painting deliberately participates in this shared fusion, which means that in the Tabacalera's exhibition space, he also achieves a radical rapprochement between the real and his pictorial illusion, developing an extraordinary play between the painting and the architectural space in which it is affirmed and dissimulated.
(…) That is to say, the paintings that appear there not only present the illusion of the space of architecture, but also take its place, sometimes concealing it in compliance with the millimetric measurements of certain parietal apparatuses. And although he does not avoid, or rather confirms, through the inevitable expression of the techniques of this discipline, that painting constitutes the short-circuit of his artistic work, Rui Macedo essentially reaffirms it in the relationship of simulacrum that he manages to establish with the spatial order of his work that he manages to establish with the spatial order of its manifestation. »
David Santos, excerpt from the catalogue essay, 2019
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The solo exhibition "Sfumato" curated by Begoña Torres was held from 20 September until 10 November 2019 at Tabacalera, in Madrid, Spain.
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November 5 | 7pm
Talk and guided tour of the exhibition with Fernando Castro Flórez and Rui Macedo.
Free entry -
On the occasion of this exhibition, the catalogue «Sfumato» (ES), with essays by Begoña Torres, Fernando Castro Flórez, and David Santos, was published. LINK
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Begoña Torres González, director of the Fundación Lázaro Galdiano, holds a PhD in Art History and is a member of the professional body of Spanish museum curators. She received a special end-of-degree award, an honours award for her doctoral thesis, and the Marqués de Lozoya prize for cultural research. She has directed the Centro Tabacalera in Madrid (2010‒20) and the Museo Nacional del Romanticismo (1997‒2010), being responsible for the reopening of the latter in 2009. She has likewise held important posts both in other cultural institutions and museums and in the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport.
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David Santos (b. 1971, Vila Franca de Xira, PT) is an art historian and curator of modern and contemporary art. He holds a PhD in Contemporary Art from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Coimbra (2014). Since May 2022, he has been the Scientific Director of the Museum of Neo-Realism and the Director of Culture at the Vila Franca de Xira City Council.
From March 2020 to April 2022, he served as the curator of the Portuguese State Collection of Contemporary Art. He was the Deputy Director General of Cultural Heritage from 2016 to 2020, and the Vice-President of the Intergovernmental Council of the Ibermuseums Programme – Ibero-American International Cooperation from 2018 to 2020.
He was also the Director of the "Revista de Museus" (Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage/Ministry of Culture) from 2018 to 2022. Additionally, he served as the Director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art from 2013 to 2015 and as the Director of the Museum of Neo-Realism from 2007 to 2013.
Fernando Castro Flórez (b. Plasencia, Spain, 1964) is Professor of Aesthetics and Theory of the Arts at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He is an art critic for the cultural supplement ABC Cultural and has regularly contributed to major Spanish newspapers and cultural outlets, including El País, Diario16, El Independiente, El Sol, and El Mundo, as well as magazines such as Descubrir el Arte and Revista de Occidente. He is the director of Cuadernos del IVAM and a member of the editorial board of Pasajes. He has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Museo Reina Sofía and is a member of its Advisory Commission.
Castro Flórez has curated numerous solo and group exhibitions in museums and international art events, including the Chile Triennial, the Curitiba Biennial, and the Chilean Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale. He has curated exhibitions of artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Tony Cragg, David Nash, Nacho Criado, Fernando Sinaga, and Antón Lamazares.
He has also worked as an editor and translator, including publications of Walter Benjamin’s writings. His authored books include Elogio de la pereza. Notas para una estética del cansancio (1992), Escaramuzas. El arte en el tiempo de la demolición (2003), Sainetes y otros desafueros del arte contemporáneo (2007), Una “verdad” pública. Consideraciones sobre el arte contemporáneo (2010), y Contra el bienalismo. Crónicas fragmentarias del extraño mapa actual (2012).
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