“Fábrica de Ossos” is the first solo exhibition by Andreas Fogarasi in Portugal.

In his conceptual practice, Andreas Fogarasi (b. 1977, Vienna) engages with architecture, design and urban symbols, as well as with the visible and invisible codings of cultural identity. His works explore how social values, power relations and national self-images are inscribed in forms, surfaces and signs.
He was awarded the Golden Lion at the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007) and the Otto Mauer Prize (2016).

His international exhibitions include: Kunsthalle Wien; Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid; New Museum, New York; MUMOK, Vienna; MAK Center, Los Angeles; Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich; Ludwig Forum, Aachen; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; GfZK, Leipzig; CAC Vilnius; Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb; Times Museum, Guangzhou; and Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt.

"(...) As is the case with many of his works, Andreas Fogarasi takes on the role of a collector of memories, especially those relating to buildings that have either been demolished or abandoned, or whose original functions have since been changed.

In a city like Porto, where many notable changes have been made over the last decade, especially those linked to the gentrification of the city centre, recovering the memory of the recent past is a matter of fundamental importance.

In an era that is governed by the perpetuation of the present, it is essential to ‘brush history against the grain’, to use the famous phrase coined by the philosopher Walter Benjamin in his essay ‘On the Concept of History’ (1940), in which he proposes looking at the past from the perspective of the defeated, the oppressed and the excluded. This approach seeks to deconstruct the idea of continuous progress in order to reveal the injustices and the voices that have been silenced by the official version of events. (...)"

ÓSCAR FARIA

Excerpt of the exhibition text