Join the Underdogs movement! Visit us now to explore exhibitions, public art projects, and exclusive artist editions that connect communities through creativity.
Established in 2010 and consolidated in its present form in 2013, Underdogs works with a diversified roster of Portuguese and international artists connected with the urban inspired contemporary art universe, fostering the development of close relationships between creators, the public, and the city with the aim of promoting art as an everyday experience.
On the face of it, the body of works presented in “Less Than Objects” seems, in all, to explore only the domain of abstraction, but what Pedro Matos shows us here is that this abstraction contains, too, the representation of something. Weaving a skilful reflection based on undervalued elements present in the material reality, of both human and natural origin, that surrounds us, the exploration which the artist undertakes of the interstices between representation and abstraction expresses an intentional articulation between one and the other that seeks to elevate the latter to a status in all equal to that of the former. By recreating and transposing disparaged material elements to a space of aesthetic contemplation, the artist translates the abstract quality of the texture of the random, of imperfection, of decay and mutation, as well as the existing correlations between human action and the effect of nature, into proposals that suggest their sublimation and acceptance.
