Pénélope

For his work Penelope, Francisco used as a model a work by António Soares dos Reis (1847–1889), a Portuguese Neoclassical sculptor known for his allegorical statuettes, which he portrayed in ancient dress. The latter’s grave is decorated with his work Saudade, a universal figure of melancholy that is commonly reproduced for use in graveyards. Francisco associated this sculpture with the archetypal representation of Penelope, who has always been shown as a bowed figure. The architecture of her body is a series of bends: she stands in the contrapposto pose with one arm folded against her chest, supporting the elbow of the other arm, which in turn supports her tilted head. By the end of Francisco’s alteration process, the figure of Penelope was reduced to no more than her physical conformation. Paradoxically, the result of the removal of material from the core suggests that the altered figure is covered by a veil or wrapped in a shroud. This new “formless” figure could be viewed as a reference to the ruse Penelope developed to delay the choice of a suitor, in which she unpicked at night the burial shroud she wove for Laertes during the day, but also as the representation of a creative impulse that contains its own destruction. Francisco Tropa was born in 1968, and works and lives in Lisbon. Time, tales and formal aesthetics are the main elements of his work. The artist links stories together, retelling mythologies, technologies, science and societies. Tropa uses several media – sculpture, drawing, performance, engraving, installation, photography and film — to convey a series of reflections catalysed by the different traditions of sculpture and science. His installations abound in precise and precious objects, geometric and elaborate forms, delicate prototypes and complex machines. His pieces are most clearly underpinned by the notion of time. Time is also decisive in the studio work by the artist, who sometimes develops his projects over several years. Besides representing Portugal in the Venice Biennale (2011), he also took part in the Rennes Biennial (2012), the Istanbul Biennial (2011), Manifesta (2000), the Melbourne Biennial (1999) and the São Paulo Biennial (1998). Some of his recent solo exhibitions include: “I Love you” at Fundação de Serralves in Porto (2024), “The Lung and the Heart”, Musée d’art moderne de Paris, France (2022); “Che Vuoi?”, Le Creux de l’Enfer, Thiers, France (2022); “Behind us”, MUCEM, Marseille, France (2020); “The Pyrgus from Chaves”, Fundaçào Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal (2019); Performance Scripta, Centre National de la Danse, Paris, France (2018); Performance Gigante, Fes- tival MOVE, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2018); “TSAE - Trésors Submergés de l’Ancienne Égypte”, Musée Régional d’Art Contemporain Languedoc-Roussillon, Sérignan, France (2015); “TSAE - Tesouros Submersos do Antigo Egipto, Museu de Lisboa”, Lisbon, Portugal (2014-2015); “STAE - Submerged Treasures of Ancient Egypt”, La Verrière, Fondation d’Entreprise Hermès, Brussels, Belgium (2013).