Ser e Estar. Videos from the Berardo Collection

In this exhibition we present a selection of eight videos, acquired by the Berardo Collection between 2007 and 2011.

The artists whose work is shown here – Caetano Diaz, Cristina Mateus, Jakub Nepraš, Laurent Grasso, Dias & Riedweg, Vasco Araújo, Vladimir Nikolic and Zoran Naskovski – look at our increasingly complex reality and the role of art itself within that reality, inviting us to reflect on the problems and issues of the world in which we live.

All of these artists use video as a creative tool and effective means of communication between the artist and viewers.

This artistic practice, which began in the 1960s, has undergone massive technological development and, by harnessing the digital technology that has come out over recent decades, has indisputably widened the range of possibilities available.

We might go so far as to say that video is the foremost means of taking in and retaining information in today’s world, which is increasingly abuzz with stimuli and noise. In the first place, it offers us information in an auditory and visual way, making it easier to digest and store. Secondly, video tells us stories more effectively than any other format, combining information and emotion while bringing together people, voices and movement. All of this imitates life itself, generating immense engagement and empathy.

Making the world a better place is no longer an option for these artists, who are simply trying to create a new world through their critical and reflective abilities, expressed through new aesthetic approaches whereby they pose fundamental questions about our existence and our place in the world of today, and which need to be addressed as a matter of urgency so that we can understand and grasp the meaning in our lives.

In a time of social upheaval and uncertainty, where we have abandoned all overarching systems, art no longer proclaims irrefutable truths or makes declarations; instead, it asks questions. This is the challenge that these artists have taken up with the conceptual issues tackled here, which impel us to muse upon their ideas and poetical approaches.

Rita Lougares
Exhibition curator