Artworks
Argos, da série «Satellites» [Argos, from the series «Satellites»]
photography
Date
2019
Technique
Inkjet print on Fine Art Baryta paper
Dimensions
150 x 120 cm
The work of Márcio Vilela (1978, Recife, Brazil) is composed of photographic studies of the landscape and long-term projects that explore the relationship between art and science, where photography is accompanied by video, drawing or artist's books. After "- Chromatic Study for Blue
" (2011-2015) around the blue tones of the sky, - Satellites
is the subsequent long-term work in which the same theme is explored through different artistic perspectives and media. Since 2014, and with a first public presentation in a monographic exhibition at MNAC-Museu do Chiado in 2019, the artist stubbornly looks at the sky again.
- Argos, Haruka, Atlas Centaur
: each work is composed of a luminous and coloured spot in the centre of a black background. Although abstract in appearance, these images correspond to photographs taken through a telescope, capturing satellites orbiting more than 2,000 kilometres from the Earth's surface. The blurred spots correspond to magnifications of what seen with the naked eye, with some luck, would have the appearance of a small and fleeting star in motion. Exhibited as a triptych or separately, the works are part of the series - Satellites
(2019) and the artistic research project that also brings together drawing, video and objects. Each work is named after the satellite represented in it, since, through the analysis of databases, Vilela was able to predict the passage of satellites, intercepting their paths. During five years of continuous research, he developed at the same time different artistic experiments and collected historical documents, such as a roll of NASA aerial photographs or a postcard representing "the smallest satellite in the world”. At a time when the number of satellites in orbit has grown exponentially, these photographic images question the boundaries between art and technology, abstraction and representation, underlining the ambiguous character that has always characterised photography.
" (2011-2015) around the blue tones of the sky, - Satellites
is the subsequent long-term work in which the same theme is explored through different artistic perspectives and media. Since 2014, and with a first public presentation in a monographic exhibition at MNAC-Museu do Chiado in 2019, the artist stubbornly looks at the sky again.
- Argos, Haruka, Atlas Centaur
: each work is composed of a luminous and coloured spot in the centre of a black background. Although abstract in appearance, these images correspond to photographs taken through a telescope, capturing satellites orbiting more than 2,000 kilometres from the Earth's surface. The blurred spots correspond to magnifications of what seen with the naked eye, with some luck, would have the appearance of a small and fleeting star in motion. Exhibited as a triptych or separately, the works are part of the series - Satellites
(2019) and the artistic research project that also brings together drawing, video and objects. Each work is named after the satellite represented in it, since, through the analysis of databases, Vilela was able to predict the passage of satellites, intercepting their paths. During five years of continuous research, he developed at the same time different artistic experiments and collected historical documents, such as a roll of NASA aerial photographs or a postcard representing "the smallest satellite in the world”. At a time when the number of satellites in orbit has grown exponentially, these photographic images question the boundaries between art and technology, abstraction and representation, underlining the ambiguous character that has always characterised photography.
