Light reveals what does not exist in the space between things; consequently, this non-existence differs from nothingness and exists as something representable, and must be addressed in photography – indeed, it is the enigma that challenges us in many photographs, the space open to projection and interpretation.

Nuno Félix da Costa

Nuno Félix da Costa pursues an artistic practice spanning painting, drawing, photography, poetry and the essay. His practice reveals a profound understanding of the human condition that does not illustrate, but rather suggests, giving rise to alternative readings and interpretations. He draws upon different languages to express the complexity of human existence, which he explores through his visual art and poetic writing.

In the exhibition, A Fotografia Fantasma, the artist presents works based on photographs that were either intentionally captured at the source or altered through digital manipulation during image editing, or by the addition of layers of material that convey presences. These presences may stem from literature – Goethe, Pessoa, his heteronyms, or other personas who never existed or are in a state of absence.

The artist himself is also frequently present, although the gaze upon himself is not his objective, but rather the provocation of reflection.

In his works, one can sense the tension between photography and painting, between representation and interpretation. By intervening on photographic portraits, the artist alters, reconstructs, transforms, distorts, and creates zones of opacity and uncertainty. We might say that they reflect emotions, memories and areas of fragility in the psyche by suspending the evidence of the visible. Underlying this is the question of identity, which emerges as unstable, mutable, open, permeable, in transit.

As MIRA FORUM is the section of MIRA Galerias dedicated to photography, we consider it a privilege to showcase the visual work of Nuno Félix da Costa because “in the beginning was photography”, and because we are interested in exploring photography in all its manifestations, components and derivations. We could not fail to feature an artist – who is also a photographer – who expands photography beyond its own boundaries, embracing it within the full creative scope of these works.

Manuela Matos Monteiro

Curated by Manuela Matos Monteiro

Credits

MIRA Galleries | MIRA FORUM

Directed by Manuela Matos Monteiro and João Lafuente

Communications: Manuela Matos Monteiro and Beatriz Vital

Assistant: Beatriz Vital

Born in Lisbon in 1950, where she lives and works. Psychiatrist. Formerly a lecturer at FML in the field of Mental Sciences.

He has exhibited painting, photography and painting on photography since 1983. His work explores the relationship and tension between painting and photography, representation and interpretation, often incorporating chemical and digital manipulations into photographic images and/or the addition of material and paint.

He has published six books of photography: Retratos de hábito (Assírio & Alvim, 1983), Arte última (Casa Fernando Pessoa, 1998), Portulíndia (Córtex Frontal, 2009), Salão Lisboa (Companhia das Ilhas, 2020), O mundo mesmo (2021, Cepe) and Portugal era assim (Cortex Frontal, 2024).

Since 1995, he has published nine books of poetry, the first three with &etc: Noutro Sítio (1995), Panfletarium (1996), Cinematografias (1998). Later, Arte última (Casa Fernando Pessoa, 1998), Catálogo de soluções (Córtex Frontal, 2010), Agora nós (Córtex Frontal, 2012), O desfazer das coisas e as coisas já desfeitas (Companhia das Ilhas, 2015), Epopeia mínima (Companhia das Ilhas, 2020), Manual para ser humano, (Cepe, 2021).

Published prose: Pequena voz – anotações sobre poesia (Companhia das Ilhas, 2016), reissued by Cepe (Brazil) in 2018, and in Italy, Picola voce, (2023), Estar no sistema (Teodolito, 2019), The Clinic and the Pathology of Systems (Companhia das Ilhas, 2020) and The Self Prevented from Happening (Cepe, 2021).