Biography
short version
My artistic practice has evolved from an intimate blend of visual arts, writing, book editing, and publishing to encompass a variety of mediums that have expanded to include sculpture and the utilization of three-dimensional space in recent years. It’s marked by a strong element of experimentation, rooted in research primarily within the realms of philosophy and literature. This foundation informs projects that are developed at the crossroads of arts, sciences, and speculative knowledge. In my work, I consistently explore inquiries concerning the materiality of language, extending this exploration to non-verbal forms of expression. My aim is to raise awareness and contribute to the preservation of diverse and, consequently, inclusive social ecosystems that are inhabited by both humans and non-humans. I regularly exhibit my work both individually and collectively in national and international contemporary art contexts.
Among my recent exhibitions, I would like to highlight a few: "Casting a Sounding Voice" at CAAA — Centro para os Assuntos da Arte e da Arquitetura (2023, Guimarães); "Museu Mineiro" at Galeria Quadrado Azul (2022, Porto); "Langages Tissés" at Centre d'Arte Le Lait (2021, Albi, France), and "AR(a)C(hné)-EN-CIEL" at Galeria Quadrado Azul (2019, Lisbon), "Strange Attractor" at Pavilhão Branco (2021, Lisbon), and "Feet of Clay" at Galeria Municipal (2021, Porto). Regarding art residencies, some significant ones include CAA- NTU Centre for Contemporary Art in Singapore, Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany, and the Maaretta Jaukkuri Foundation in Lofoten, Norway.
In the intersection between literature and visual arts, I've been involved in editorial projects. I was a founding member of the publishing project Braço de Ferro, which covers Art & Design practices, and responsible for Navio Vazio, a space for editorial experimentation. Presently, I am the editor of Leonorana, an annual journal focusing on transdisciplinary artistic research, which has reached its sixth issue. Additionally, since 2023, I have been a founding member of EARTHSEA — a cultural association dedicated to promoting and disseminating interdisciplinary artistic research centered around the intersection of ecology and technology.
Under the name Clara Batalha, a pseudonym I chose around 2010 – that can be read as a proper name or by its meaning, “bright battle” – I stage a long-term collaboration that permits me to develop work often related to drawing and illustration. Through her practice I wish to explore questions of identity, gender and old age stigma.
Clara Batalha (Porto, 1929). In 1952, she graduated in Art and Geometry from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. In the same year, she attended the free course of Decorative Arts. Between 1953 and 1965, she worked as a private educator in Paris. From 1969 to 1983, she settled in the Douro region (Baião) where she worked as a librarian for the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Only in 1977, Batalha began to write, draw and publish regularly in the bulletin of the same Foundation. Since 2010, in co-authorship with Isabel Carvalho, she has developed several artistic projects. In 2018, they had an exhibition together called “Os ovários das papoilas” (“The poppy ovaries”) at Sismógrafo, Porto. Recently she has been dedicating herself to environmental activism joining several informal groups, and has been a great promotor of the phenology study between youngsters.