Edgar Pires was born in Oeiras in 1982 and graduated in Sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Lisbon in 2007. His artistic practice evokes experiences stimulated by the attentive observation of everyday life and is situated in the research and experimentation of materials within the multidisciplinary field of sculpture/installation. Notable solo exhibitions in his career include Incolor at Sala do Veado in Lisbon (2013), Luz, Espaço e Ações at Sala Bebé / Espaço Avenida in Lisbon (2012), and (Re)ação at Lagar do Azeite in Oeiras (2009). His collective exhibitions include Superfície/Obstáculowith Nuno Rodrigues de Sousa at Residência COOP in Lisbon (2013) and Entre Muros – Junho das Artes in Óbidos (2010). He was also an artist-in-residence at Carpe Diem Arte e Pesquisa (2013/14). His awards include an Honorable Mention at Jovens Criadores Aveiro 09 in the sculpture category (2009) and first place (ex-aequo) in the Fundação Marquês de Pombal Award – Visual Arts/Contemporary Art – Young Artists, in 2006.
(…) Heavy looking and mostly irregular on their surfaces, these sculptures are however indeed that: sculptures. Created by soaking iron filling casts into shapes in a mix of kosher salt and vinegar, Pires created these objects from scratch. It took a long time for these objects to “take”, but they are studio objects nevertheless, not the product of some land art experiment. Pires manufactures these pieces painstakingly in his studio, fabricating the corrosion that produces the abrasive surfaces. He works on some glossier spots at the crossroad of science and design (it takes longer for that result apparently), and shapes them to his will. (…)
The process here reveals the playground of a young artist who is experimenting fully with his material. These time-based shapes and forms translate the compulsion of their maker into creations that witness the artist’s power over matter. It is playful and design-oriented in its result, without guaranties at the beginning of the process, but building up knowledge of the material the longer the works goes on, like an artisan learning his craft. (…)
As the result of an intense labour servicing a skilled hand, it is full with something that could be coming out of gestation. As a sculptor who plays alchemist the different forms still echo a time bygone, an aesthetic of the ruin and the derelict, but they have the potential to transcend the technique and perhaps come to their own, perhaps though extreme sophistication and control, or through primal creative impulse, or something else yet that could be that diamond mentioned in the title of the show.
