Portugal Arte 10 / International Survey of Contemporary Art in Lisbon, Portugal

Portugal Arte 10 EDP is a new biennial show of contemporary art in Lisbon / Portugal and the surrounding region. The first edition of the international survey of contemporary art features a large program of specially commissioned public sculpture projects and site-specific installations, alongside 8 curated group exhibitions. In this video, VernissageTV has a look at the exhibitions in the Portugal Pavilion in Lisbon and speaks with Artistic Director Stefan Simchowitz, who talks about the concept of Portugal Arte 10 and the curated group exhibitions.

Portugal Arte 10 runs until the 15th August, 2010. The show was conceived by Artistic Director Stefan Simchowitz and President Miguel Carvalho. Over 100 international contemporary artists exhibit public art works throughout Lisbon, Grandola, Portimão, and Vila Real de Santo Antonio. An international team of curators (Johannes Van Der Beek, Fred Hoffman and Paul Young, Lauri Firstenberg, Juan Delgado Calzadilla, Elvia Rosa Castro, and Nelson Herrera Ysla, Garth Weiser, Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee with Johnston Marklee Associates, Stefan Simchowitz, Martin Lilja) presents additional thematic exhibitions in institutions and historic buildings of Portugal. Among the artists are Cory Arcangel, Aids 3D, Jim Drain, Jonathan Monk, Robert Melee, Justin Lieberman, Nathan Mabry, Ara Peterson, Sterling Ruby, Shinique Smith, Johannes Vanderbeek, Miguel Palma, Urbano, Olaf Breuning, and the artist collective FAILE. The venues are Baixa, Lisbon; Bairro Alto, Lisbon; Parque das Naçíµes (Pavilion of Portugal), Lisbon; TEMPO -Teatro Municipal Portimão, Algarve; Grí¢ndola, Alentejo; Public Library Grí¢ndola; Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve; Centro Cultural António Aleixo – Vila Real de Santo António.

Photos of the exhibition after the jump.

Update (August 3, 2010): Review of Portugal Arte 10 by Marina Cashdan at Huffington Post.

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The Portugal Pavilion in Lisbon houses five exhibitions: Gradation curated by Garth Weiser; Personal Freedom curated by Johannes Van Der Beek; Insider/Outsider curated by Martin Lilja; California Dreamin’ curated by Fred Hoffmann (Adjunct Video Curator Paul Young); and POINTS OF VIEW curated by Stefan Simchowitz. The Portugal Pavilion is a striking building designed by Portugal’s Pritzker Award-winning architect Alvaro Siza Vieira. Its remarkable sagging concrete roof weighing 1,400 tons and measuring 167 by 223 ft is an instant attention-grabber, undulating like the sail of a ship, keeping the maritime theme of most of the district’s architecture. The pavilion consists of two exhibition areas, one housing main exhibitions, the second providing a large outdoor space for national displays. The most iconic feature of the pavilion however, is a thin, curved concrete sail that creates a canopy over the ceremonial plaza. As Lisbon is an area of high sismic activity, the canopy and the building are completely separate, each with its own structural support system. At the time of construction, the National Pavilion was Lisbon’s largest urban regeneration project since rebuilding the city in the aftermath of an earthquake and tidal wave of 1775.

About the Artistic Director:
Stefan Simchowitz has been involved in the field of creative industries and arts his entire life. He has produced 15 feature films, including the award winning independent movies The House Of Yes and Requiem For a Dream. As a co-founder of MediaVast Inc. (wireimage.com and contourphotos.com), the world’s leader in celebrity, fashion and other photographic content, he managed and brought together hundreds of artists such as David La Chapelle and Terry Richardson, to a first-class delivery platform for premium photographic imagery.

Simchowitz currently specializes as an independent consultant and curator to foundations interested in pursuing the exhibition and expansion of public/private contemporary art and architecture initiatives. His role as a strategic advisor involves the management and oversight of artistic partnerships with curators, artists that enable the exhibition, support and production of art, architecture and large-scale events that engage public audiences. His work with artists, foundations, events and art production has resulted in supporting shows at the Palais De Tokyo, Moca, Kunsthalle Zurich, Public Art Fund NYC, Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, The Italian Cultural Institute and countless other institutions and galleries. He received a B.A. from Stanford University in California, and attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He currently lives between Los Angeles, New York and Lisbon.

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