SCHLEICHER/LANGE is delighted to be presenting a solo show by Diogo Pimentão for which the artist has created new works.

Typically, Diogo Pimentão’s works involve drawing, sculpture, performance and conceptional approaches. Normally, paper is employed to convey information and is consequently a means to an end and disappears behind or beneath the actual information, such as writing or drawing. But for Diogo Pimentão it is an equal and equally valid element and carrying medium. The artist goes beyond the borders of the medium drawing not only by transferring it from the two-dimensional to the three-dimensional and has drawing become sculpture, but also by orchestrating drawing as performance.

Pimentão pinches, folds and unfolds the paper sometimes resorting to physical exertion. The artist not only conducts this performative exploration using paper and graphite and repetitive gestures in his studio but sometimes presents them directly to a live audience of a show in a kind of choreography. This physical and spatial experience of drawing aims to explore material, plumb its borders but also to master the material and take possession of space. Pimentão’s work process is an essential part of his work and not simply a means to an end intended to achieve the perfect solution. It often leaves behind visible traces: Alongside sharp edges, smearing and fingerprints remain visible as he deviates from the traditional handling of paper using a pencil. Instead, he uses graphite – either as graphite dust or in solid form-, which is really more of a waste product from the drawing process, as the basic material in his artistic work, sometimes applying it with his hands and fingers. As such, the traces of his identity are inscribed into his work. In his abstract works they are frequently the only “information”, which the observer receives by way of help him to decode or decipher the work. The artist applies such large amounts of graphite to the paper that it causes a transformation of the material and makes the paper look like metal. It looks as if he had transferred it into a different aggregate state. In addition, because he moves away from the intimate format of drawing favoring a larger-than-life sized scale for his works they have a strong physical presence that challenges the observer to physically grasp the medium of drawing. Pimentão’s drawing is namely much more than lines and contours or a weighting of light and dark. Yet his works never lose their sensual dimension and experience. The dominating centerpiece of his current show is a major work of Pimentão, which is complemented by contrasting sculptural elements: a series of monochrome drawings that are placed on the walls of the gallery and in part span the distance from the floor to the ceiling. True to Pimentão’s customary perfection the ten paper panels mounted on stretchers are completely covered in graphite. What is startling: This expansive and sometimes overlayering treatment of the paper produces a drawing that is both concealed and visible. Despite the close association of the panels in their dialog-like presentation, they are conceived as a modular system in which the ten monochrome works not only function as an overall work but each individual drawing exists in its own right, even though initially they appear to be a multiple multiplication of their selves. On closer inspection, however, the differing density of the graphite can be discerned, which Diogo Pimentão does not only apply to the paper in the classic manner using a pencil. These distinctions in the density of the graphite layers define how light is absorbed and reflected. The result: various gradings from lighter to darker gray and black tones, which at times seem to shimmer a delicate yellow. Although the graphite is applied in a seamless patina drawing lines can be detected. The reason for this is the artist’s approach: In the monochrome works Pimentão first covers the paper completely with graphite. Afterwards he works the surface using pointed pencils and tools normally associated with a sculptor, or even resorts to a screwdriver. The resulting stark traces are literally engraved into the paper and render exciting experiencing and exploring drawings. The lines this produces not only run vertically or horizontally alone but in some places also diagonally. This serves to structure the surface. This lends them one or several directions but without them losing their reference to the floor, their grounded character. This idea of a diagonal gravity is important to the artist.