A collection of over eighty drawings and paintings on paper make up the exhibition Metamorphoses of Humanity, by painter Graça Morais. Reflecting on the multiple faces of human nature, with its weaknesses and frightening predatory attitudes, these recent drawings by Graça Morais (carried out in 2018) offer us, as if in a broken mirror, multiple reflections of our many everyday fears: war, exclusion, absolute loss, hunger and death. In each of the works on display, like in small pieces of a fragmented world, we recognise emotions that are familiar to us. Greed, the ability to destroy, the will to refuse another their humanity and dignity, and the desire for control — all of these are present. But there’s more. Alongside the suffering of the victims, also depicted here, in their silent and ultimate act of resistance, irrepressible in their demand for dignity, the obstinate path towards hope is seen to emerge. Empathy for the victims, the ability to give a voice to the voiceless, is felt and heard in these works that put a magnifying glass up to the great tensions of our time, condensed in disturbing and moving images.
In addition to the works that featured previously, in 2018, at the Graça Morais Contemporary Art Centre in Bragança, the MNAC exhibition now includes other recent works. After Lisbon, it will be Porto’s turn to host Metamorphoses of Humanity, in the Soares dos Reis National Museum, from 25 July to 29 September.
MNAC - Rua Capelo
entry: General ConditionsMetamorphoses of Humanity
2019-03-22
2019-06-02
Curatorship: Jorge da Costa e Emília Ferreira
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On Exhibition
ALDEBARAN FALLEN TO THE GROUND
2025-03-13
2025-06-22
Aldebaran Fallen to the Ground is a series of shaped paintings, with irregular, organic contours. The intensity and incidence of light intrude on the viewing of those (most of them) faces, painted in oil pastels.
Rangefinder
INTERSECTED IMAGES
2025-03-06
2025-04-06
Curatorship: Lúcia Saldanha
José Quaresma and Tiago Batista interconnect their languages and plastic domains using two intersecting image production mechanisms: Carlos Relvas' Stereoscope and the Rangefinder.
Partnership
2024-12-12
2025-04-20
Curatorship: Ana Rito
MEANWHILE