Luís Lázaro Matos: Waves and Whirlpools

Curated by Martha Kirszenbaum 

For his solo presentation at the Galeria Municipal of Porto, Lisbon-based artist Luís Lázaro Matos (b. 1987) has created a new series of works conveying references to the mythology of the sea. Music appears at the core of his practice, and the seven diptych paintings in the exhibition are inspired by the seven songs of his recently released album, also named Waves and Whirlpools.

The pictorial and musical compositions consist in a superimposition of layers of paint and sounds, and invite the viewers to immerse themselves in a mystical, romantic and troubling universe, underpinned by an ultimate fantasy of dominating the ocean and its uncontrollable waves.

According to Martha Kirszenbaum, curator of the exhibition, “Matos depicts intriguing surroundings of dark blue waves and smiling cartoonish palm trees, haunted by fantastic marine creatures, such as sea turtles, manta rays, octopuses, whales, but also birds and an Astronaut dog named Laika. The iconography he displays might recall the imaginary realism of Portuguese artist, Paula Rego, whose interpretation of fairytales grew into an important source of inspiration for his approach.” Matos has also “outlined mysterious aliens,” she adds, “reflecting his fascination for conspiracy theories and the Bermuda Triangle, a source of inspiration for this project that is also expressed in the architectural shape of the exhibition space.”

Read the full curatorial statement here.

Luís Lázaro Matos is a visual artist and musician. He currently lives and works in Lisbon. He studied Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon and Art Practice at Goldsmiths College, London. In 2013, he was a finalist in the EDP New Artists Award. In 2016, he won the Fulbright / Carmona e Costa Foundation Scholarship and the Mécènes du Sud prize, in France. His most important recent solo exhibitions include: Notes on Cosmic Pluralism, 1646 (The Hague); Zoo, Casa da Cerca (Almada); Summer Waterfalls & Autumn Leaves, Beursschouwburg (Brussels); and The Dancing Followers, Combo Milano (Milan).

Martha Kirszenbaum is an independent curator and writer based in Paris. She graduated from Sciences Po in Paris and Columbia University in New York. Kirszenbaum was the curator of the French Pavilion of the 58th Venice Biennale, represented by Laure Prouvost. Previously, she was the director and curator of Fahrenheit in Los Angeles, and has held positions at MoMA and New Museum (New York), Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), Belvedere Museum (Vienna) and the Kunsthalle Mulhouse (France). She has organized exhibitions, performances, screenings and talks at renowned international institutions, contributed to numerous publications and books, and taught curatorial practice in France and the United States.

The exhibition features:

November 15, 6pm
Waves and Whirlpools – Concert by Luís da Riviera

The album Waves and Whirlpools—composed and written by Luís Lázaro Matos, sung together with Diana Policarpo and produced by Adriano Ferreira Cintra—was released on September 10 and will be performed live for the first time on November 15, at the Galeria Municipal do Porto. Full details can be found here.

For media inquiries:
Beatriz Pinto: beatrizpinto [​at​] agoraporto.pt
Lídia Queirós: lidiaqueiros [​at​] agoraporto.pt