- Plano
and- Sun
were both parts of a solo exhibition by the Brazilian artist Adriano Costa, which was held in Lisbon, in 2017. Costa's free-spirited installations encompass a broad range of media, techniques and materials. They often include bronze sculptures, drawings, paintings, fabrics, iron and concrete, handwritten, printed or embroidered texts, but also heteroclite found objects, artefacts and residues such as metal cans, utensils and tools, rubber, plastic and trash. Exploring the enchantment operated by art and its transmutational effect when turning all things into “gold”, the artist also investigates the relation between space and all those converted objects. Their montage and spatial extension into a more or less definitive and static configuration are conceived as a choreographed dance or an improvised jazz piece evolving freely within a specific framework.

Both the sculpture, which combines bronze and iron, and the wall-mounted installation composed of seven diversified elements feature a striking graphic dimension unfolding into the exhibition's space. While - Sun
lies directly on the ground and emphasizes a geometric triangular shape, conveying a certain sense of weight and gravity with its larger vertical bronze piece strongly resembling a block of wood, - Plano
transmits an impression of upward movement. The latter gathers curved and straight lines, circular, rectangular and organic shapes and its elements are displayed onto the wall with a certain sense of equilibrium and harmony: a thicker, longer piece at the bottom, close to the floor, which can evoke a horizon line, suggesting a rural landscape context, and a seemingly volatile and dynamic assemblage at the top. The juxtaposition of fragile, ephemeral components as paper and peanuts with the solidity and stability of the noble bronze and the iron pods may metaphorically echo the extraordinary diversity of matters our lives and ourselves are made of.