«A sculptor works with reality, but also builds a new reality». This is the premise that leads the sculptor Rui Matos to work exclusively with iron today and «to tell a story» with each of the pieces he makes. The reconstruction of all the memories of its “Caminho” can be appreciated, until the 14th of April, at the Municipal Museum of Tavira.
The calm that the sculptor Rui Matos has, when he welcomes guests at the door of the Municipal Museum of Tavira, reveals the many years of experience as an artist exhibiting his works across the country.
The former Palácio da Galeria is the stage for his most recent exhibition, on view since the 29th of January.
«I make the sculptures in a very personal way, trying to tell a story that interests me», explains Rui Matos, as he climbs the museum's stairs that give access to the rooms that host the exhibition.
«Each work corresponds to a body of unique origin, which grew and developed from an inner tension», but it is not a finished piece, as «it can accept external objects, integrating them as tools».
After decades of working with materials such as clay, synthetic resins and stone, for about 13 years Rui Matos has mainly used iron as the raw material in his works. This is exactly the material of the pieces that, either oxidized or painted, make up this exhibition.
«I dedicated myself exclusively to iron, because I think that this material has much more to do with my language and with what I want to convey», he emphasizes.
For the artist, iron also has, in the History of Art, «a memory» that interests him «very much»: Russian Constructivism.
«For the first time, there was a movement that is mainly dedicated to sculpture and whose main raw material was the use of iron», he highlights.
One of the main aspects of the show is the size of the pieces: they are large and immediately catch the eye. Even so, only a few have a name – a kind of complement, as Rui Matos explains.
These names «are something more than a mere phrase. They are something that relates the ways the audience will see a thought or idea. People can then establish that connection or not. Whoever sees them, due to their sensitivity, intelligence, culture, among other skills, ends up closing out the meaning of the sculpture».
For Rui Matos, his sculptures have something that touches visitors, as «there are lots of small objects, almost identifiable, but they can be many things. I think that gives people the ability to turn what they see into a lot of things.”
«I want people to identify with those little things in the sculptures I make and to somehow find the meaning for them. close my pieces», says the artist.
During the visit to the exhibition, Rui Matos emphasizes that «all the pieces in the show are remarkable», but he points out that, in the first room, «there are two pieces that are the main ones», entitled “The sequence of days” and “Heavy Silences” .
For Ana Paula Martins, mayor of Tavira, «this is another exhibition that demonstrates the versatility of the Municipal Museum», a space that has received «great artists» and that, even since the beginning of the pandemic in Portugal, in March 2020, «already hosted three major exhibitions».
«Sculpture is an art modality that we haven't had for some time, as the last exhibitions have been painting, but I am happy that these artists chose our city to present their pieces here», explains the mayor who, regarding the future , revealed that the Museum should soon host an exhibition on Balsa.
For the time being, this exhibition by Rui Matos «can be visited by people of all ages», even if «they have no knowledge of Contemporary Art or Modern Art», from Tuesday to Saturday, between 9:30 am and 16:30 pm.
Rui Matos was born in Lisbon in 1959 and currently lives and works near Sintra. He attended the Sculpture course at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, between 1980 and 1987, having received, in 1993, a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Several of his iron sculptures had already been exhibited, in 2018, at the Espírito Santo Convent Art Gallery, in Loulé.
Photos: Rúben Bento | Sul Informação
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