These are three video works selected from the career of artist Ângela Ferreira currently exhibiting in her first solo show in a public gallery in the UK, at Stills. The works address the use of the artists body as a tool of expression within her practice.
Untitled (1998) 4 minutes, Ângela Ferreira
Video mini-DV transfer to DVD, colour, silent; 4 minutes, loop x 3. Courtesy the artist
Performance by the artist comprised of an aerobics sequence filmed at the National Stadium. The stadium’s architecture remains almost untouched since its construction in 1940. The memory of the gymnastic festival which once took place is rendered by the out of focus image. This video marks an encounter between the manifestations organized by the Mocidade Portuguesa during the Salazar regime and contemporary choreography.
Pega (2000)Ângela Ferreira
Video mini-DV transfer to DVD, colour, sound; 4 minutes, loop x 3. Courtesy the artist
Edited documentation of a performance by the artist. The video presents choreography which mingles tauromachian and sexual allusions, representing the moment where the female bullfighter confronts the bull in a Portuguese fight. The camera’s lens functions like the animal’s point of view which ultimately ends by plunging into the woman’s genitals. A sculpture, comprised of a white metal structure, sparked off by the rotating postcard cases in souvenir shops, and an enlargement of an old postcard, representing a bullfight wit the inscription “Portugal is sensational” on the cover and a map marking the “Portuguese colonial empire” on the back, complement this performance.
A Woman Like Polley (2003) Ângela Ferreira
Video, Betcam transfer to DVD, colour, silent, 4 minutes. Courtesy the artist.
This work ensued from the artist's interest as a visual artist residing in Portugal (A European context). in understanding how her cultural awareness was formed. Her roots belong to the apartheid regime of South Africa, a period marked by the cultural boycott, yet her cultural references are those of images from films and registers, concerning directors and their work for instance, the oeuvre of Wim Wenders, Manoel de Oliveira, Alain Tanner, Werner Herzog and Rainer Fassbinder. The presentation of work by these and any other directors in South Africa solely depended on the the effort and audacity of James Polley, a colourful character who lived in Cape Town. Polley dedicated his life to fighting the effects of the cultural boycott and censorship of the apartheid government by annually producing the Cape Town Film Festival. With this work, Ângela Ferreira tries to transform him into a local hero.
All texts © Angela Ferreira 'No Place at all' 2004. Pedro Lapa and Andrew Renton
Stills' Film Lounge is a dedicated screening space to view curated programmes of artists's film and video works. Film Lounge programmes relate directly to and extend the themes of Stills’ exhibitions. The aim is to enable the audience to consider the medium and language of artists' film and video within a prescribed context, at their own pace within an environment which is free from the assumptions of gallery and cinema staging and presentational formats.
Image Pega (2000) Angela Ferreira. Image courtesy the artist.
