Sept. 1, 2015
The Illuminated Word: 30 years of CPS art books and albums
An exhibition dedicated to 30 years of artist’s books and Albums by CPS entitled The Illuminated Word (A Palavra Iluminada) is opening at the António Botto Municipal Library in Abrantes, on 18 September, at 6.00 pm.
This exhibition is part of the celebration of CPS’s 30th anniversary, which started with the presentation of the major exhibit: The Reality of the Imaginary (A Realidade do Imaginário), curated by Maria João Fernandes with the artistic direction of Alexandra Silvano, in six National Museums and in the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha.
The current exhibition at the António Botto Library displays a remarkable group of editions which complete the list of thousands of works, creations, and hundreds of artists at the CPS workshop, led by the engraving Master Humberto Marçal, and by the screen printer Rui Alves, a living and itinerant museum, true mirror of contemporary art.
CPS has managed to meet an important 20th century creation trend that has survived in present times, that of the dialogue word/image, poetry/visual arts which propelled the vanguards of the 20th century and is present in emblematic movements such as Cubism (1907), Dadaism (1916) and Surrealism (1924). A collection such as The Art and the Book (A Arte e o Livro) has been gathered in a true celebration of the illuminated word and image of consecrated artists such as Cruzeiro Seixas, Eurico Gonçalves or Mário Cesariny, or poets such as António Ramos Rosa, also promoting the dialogue among poets and visual artists, such as editions with the joint work of Artur Bual and Hugo Beja, Rico Sequeira and Roger Manderscheid, Antonio Jimenez and Antonio Carvajal, João Prates and Miguel Barbosa, Manuela Justino and António Ramos Rosa, Madalena Fonseca, Domingos Mateus and Maria João Fernandes, Xavier and Gonçalo Salvado, or Gracinda Candeias and Ana Zanatti, among many others.
The book Art and Wine (A Arte e o Vinho), title of another collection, resulted in the creation of bottle labels, for twelve Portuguese regions, together with the original screen prints.
Within this context, special editions like that of The Lusiads (Os Lusíadas), profusely illustrated by Masters of contemporary art, the Fado Album, which includes drawings by Francisco Simões, the portrait album of Fernando Lanhas, or the edition that joined the poetry of Vasco Graça Moura with the magnificent work for screen print of Master Cargaleiro constitute a true celebration of the dialogue between word and image, which holds the secret of creation.
Collective projects of a large scope like ATA, which gathered 31 Portuguese and English artists, or the Architectural Drawing Album by Nuno Teotónio Pereira widen the vocation to cultivate the beauty and the sortilege of creation, rendering a social dimension and an international reach to these projects that can now be enjoyed and cherished as a whole.
Contacts:
António Botto Municipal Library
Convento de S. Domingos
2200-343 Abrantes
T. 241 330 100