Mariana Viegas
12 Jan - 02 Mar 2007
MARIANA VIEGAS
"Fuga"
From the 13th January to the 2nd March
Monday to Friday from 10h to 19h
In this photographic series, Mariana Viegas continues her investigation of the different levels of negotiation that are present in the idea of landscape, specifically in the relation between subject and Nature.
On the one hand, photographs of gardens and parks propose the planning and construction of green areas within the urban space as a result of rendering concrete an ideal of Nature within a delimited area; on another instance, we are presented with domesticated Nature, or at last under control, attained through the creation and vigilance of natural parks, areas that once wild, now are readily accessible to the visitor by roads and other structures.
Wandering in those places, one experiences a double journey in opposite directions: the real, physical travel to faraway or hidden places, together with our permanence in those places, sometimes in adverse, yet controlled conditions; and an inner voyage, connected to contemplation and the relations that can be found in a specific context of open and apparently pure landscape.
This double experience can be found in Fuga [Escape], concentrated in one image that summarizes a certain experience of Nature in contemporary society: a tourist couple rides on horseback, guided by a local guide, in a landscape that we recognize from the movies: Monument Valley, so often pictured in John Ford's Westerns. Through this photograph we are presented with a double meaning for the word reservation – the landscape survives as a protected area, and so do its inhabitants.
The video works are an extension of the photographic works, adding the element of duration to a possible narrative.
Mariana Viegas studied Photography and Visual Arts in Ar.Co – Escola de Arte e Comunicação Visual, Lisbon, and exhibits regularly, both in Portugal and abroad.
"Fuga"
From the 13th January to the 2nd March
Monday to Friday from 10h to 19h
In this photographic series, Mariana Viegas continues her investigation of the different levels of negotiation that are present in the idea of landscape, specifically in the relation between subject and Nature.
On the one hand, photographs of gardens and parks propose the planning and construction of green areas within the urban space as a result of rendering concrete an ideal of Nature within a delimited area; on another instance, we are presented with domesticated Nature, or at last under control, attained through the creation and vigilance of natural parks, areas that once wild, now are readily accessible to the visitor by roads and other structures.
Wandering in those places, one experiences a double journey in opposite directions: the real, physical travel to faraway or hidden places, together with our permanence in those places, sometimes in adverse, yet controlled conditions; and an inner voyage, connected to contemplation and the relations that can be found in a specific context of open and apparently pure landscape.
This double experience can be found in Fuga [Escape], concentrated in one image that summarizes a certain experience of Nature in contemporary society: a tourist couple rides on horseback, guided by a local guide, in a landscape that we recognize from the movies: Monument Valley, so often pictured in John Ford's Westerns. Through this photograph we are presented with a double meaning for the word reservation – the landscape survives as a protected area, and so do its inhabitants.
The video works are an extension of the photographic works, adding the element of duration to a possible narrative.
Mariana Viegas studied Photography and Visual Arts in Ar.Co – Escola de Arte e Comunicação Visual, Lisbon, and exhibits regularly, both in Portugal and abroad.