Sobre o trabalho de Carlos Mota
COM ALMA DENTRO
Mais do que forma, a sua pintura é cor. Cor de quem bebe a tinta, a faz
descer até ao coração angustiado, para depois, em assomos de vertigem e
genialidade, vertê-la transfigurada sobre a tela expectante.
Há nos seus quadros mil e uma vidas a pulsar em todos os poros:
O azul manchado de uma nuvem caída do céu que se mistura em orgias de
sulcos com o azul forte do oceano;
Mil verdes dispersos, prolongamentos dos tons do vestido raro que veste a
sua Ilha e que o sopro do vento recria a cada instante;
Dói por vezes o amarelo-ocre da solidão que se percebe a cada gesto
preciso do pincel, como que recriando estradas e horizontes próximos;
E depois o vermelho: O Vermelho-Fogo, Sangue ou Lava? que irrompe por
todos os lados, dominador e quente, quase físico, e onde o pintor parece
estar omnipresente;
Por fim o Branco (tão acutilante quanto raro o Branco!) aberto e claro
sobre a lonjura, riscando caminhos e indicando continentes nas telas
nodosas e alcantiladas que edificas como um chão de lava ancestral e
lúcido.
Se a sua Obra é um Hino à Vida? É, com toda a certeza.
Eu permito-me dizer mais: A sua Obra é um Monumento à Cor; com alma
dentro.
Fernando Campos de Castro, Poeta, Porto
ESPAÇO NA CÔR E FORMA
segundo Carlos Mota
Viajar, na e perante a volumetria táctil da obra de Carlos Mota, "Adormecer no Metro"
é por si só, visão e miragem ,ambiente natural da vida quotidiana, nos Açôres de cabeços verdes,
afundamentos e fracturas, que a poesia de uma ambiência natural e abragente
define numa envolvência plena da paisagem Açoriana.Inspiradora por excelência de um trabalho
agressivamente doce, plásticamente denso,estéticamente conseguido na harmonia de desafios,
formas e texturas.Viajem interior do artista no dominio da matéria,mas também ao imaginário na
contenção. do sonho, da espiritualidade à abstração numa resultante
plásticamente inovadora ,num talvez novo , conceito de paisagismo e equilíbrio crriativo
Manuel Martins Barata
Art Curator
TEMPRA ACADEMY Uk/Malta.
-MIAB-PORTUGAL
YOUTH INTERNATIONAL ART FORUM
MAID-MED & ATLANTIC ISLANDS DREAM
Hi Carlos
Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of your exhibition and reception at the University
today. It was a lovely evening and a great celebration of your work. Congratulations! I hope that
you are pleased with everything. I honestly can say that it was one of the nicest , most impressive
exhibitions I have seen in the gallery. Kudos to you....many kudos.
I hope that the rest of your stay is a good one. Please be sure to let me know if your plans
change and you end up staying in Boston next week. I think it would be interesting to have you
speak to my class - Print Workshop on Wednesday afternoon about your work. Perhaps you
could even make a print.
I am pasting in the talk I wrote about your work below. I am so glad that you liked it. I wish you
the best for your work and hope that I will have an opportunity to meet you again. Perhaps I shall
come to Portugal ! Like you, I love to travel. And so, until we meet again - I will wish you all the
best for you and your work.
With warm regards - Liz
I want to welcome everyone tonight and thank the artist Carlos Mota for this exhibition, and for
his commitment to art and visual poetry. I am delighted that the gallery is showcasing the work
of a Portuguese artist and I am excited about the idea that through the University, the Walter
Grossman Gallery is part of the celebration of the new Portuguese Language Center, which is just
one floor below us on the 4th floor. Tonight I want to also thank Elizabeth Mock, the director of
the Walter Grossman Gallery for her role in making this exhibition possible and for her continued
support to show artists whose work celebrates the dynamic and diverse community here at
UMASS. I have had the privilege of working with Elizabeth on many occasions and I am very
appreciative for tonight’s event and for all of the other exhibitions she has helped to organize.
The Walter Grossman Gallery has a tradition of showing work that celebrates this city and the
University community and this exhibition by Carlos Mota is no exception.
Earlier this week, I stopped by the gallery to meet Carlos and to speak with him about his
paintings. I immediately liked him and I liked his work. Carlos was busy designing the
exhibition and I could tell that he had a very thoughtful nature and an eye for making things look
good. When I returned earlier today to look again, I was struck by the crisp visual quality of his
installation and the sequential order of his bold and colorful images on the clean white walls of
this space. I particularly love how he was able to work the scale of the large columns and their
strong architectural presence with the spacing and placement of his paintings. It is no wonder.
Carlos received his degree in Interior Architecture in Brussels in 1994. He then continued to
study painting at the Ecole Des Arts D’Ixelles in Brussels.
Contemporary Art encompasses an enormous scope and variety of ideas and approaches to artmaking through materials, content and presentation. In Carlos Motas’ paintings, I note references
to early modern work. One might find oneself thinking about Monet’s impressionist Cathedral
paintings or the wonderfully bold, whimsical and expressive work of Dubuffet.
I was curious and asked Carlos right away about his process and I learned that he works outside
building his surfaces over a long period of time. He uses the natural light to inspire and influence
his palette. I love his use of gradients and saturation along with his play on warm and cool
colors. These paintings are bold and subdued, juicy and arid, intentional and accidental. In
Carlos’ work we find a visual poetry that is rife with association and dreamlike qualities. One is
at once impressed with the tactile nature of his work. The topography of these pictures reminds
us of so many different things; primordial cave-like dwellings or intestinal walls. The work
pulsates and oozes with the high-pitched intensity of the Baroque. On the other hand, there is a
nod to the traditions of minimalism and abstraction.
Just as I was about to leave the gallery after speaking with Carlos, it occurred to me to ask him
about his title, “To Fall Asleep on the Subway.” He said something that reminded me of the early
Surrealist painters. He said it refers to “the dream, the vision and the innovation.”
Thank you Carlos, for such interesting, thoughtful and provocative work.
Elizabeth Marran, Professora de História de Arte e Artista Plástica UMASS/Boston