Joana Escoval

“The precision of each of the sculptures created by Joana Escoval makes them objects that are simultaneously form and action, material and immaterial. It is as  if each one of the pieces is going through an internal struggle we do not have access to. The form and the action exerted by the matter appear side by side, with no hierarchy. The pieces need to have a final form, it is necessary to present   them as finished, but they are still changing. And this form that the pieces ultimately take corresponds to the non-­formal characteristics that precede them. It may seem confusing, but it is not. The use of certain metals, such as gold, silver, or copper, or a new alloy in which we can find these elements, is essential to the understanding of her work, because these metals have chemical components that blend with ourselves without us noticing it. Scientific and historical data help us understand the developments of molecules, the atoms that make up all bodies   and objects, all matter. As with other things, metal is in constant mutation and communication. The chemical and alchemical processes these sculptures are subjected to are part of their creation process.” (Pedro Barateiro)

Joana Escoval (born 1982, Lisbon, Portugal) lives and works in Lisbon. A selection of group exhibitions and solo projects include:Wind dreams, Galeria Vera Cortés, Lisbon, (2022);  I am molten matter, S.M.A.K., Ghent, (2021); Mutações. The Last Poet, Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisbon, (2020); Mais Nada se Move em Cima do Papel. Drawing as thought. Centro de Artes de Águeda, Portugal (2020); Daniel Gustav Cramer + Joana Escoval, Galeria Vera Cortês, Lisbon (2020); Dust in the Shadows, Vistamarestudio, Milano (2019); In a Waiting Room, Fiorucci Art Trust, London (2019); Made to Accompany the Sound of a Storm, Bombon Projects, Barcelona (2019); The Sun Lovers, Tenderpixel, London (2019); We do not work alone, Fiorucci Art Trust HQ, London (2018); The word for world, Grey Noise, Dubai AI (2018); Nearly Inaudible Breathing, The Breeder, Athens, GR (2017); I’m the son of that drum, Acappella, Naples, IT (2017); Transmissions from the Etherspace, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, SP (2017); Fiducia Incorreggibile, Galeria Vera Cortês, Lisbon PT (2017); Growing Gills, Mimosa House, London, UK (2017); Si sedes non is, The Breeder, Athens, GR (2017); Canibalia (redux), Hangar, Lisbon, PT (2017); I will go where I don’t belong – Volcano Extravaganza, Fiorucci Art Trust, Stromboli, IT (2016); I forgot to go to school yesterday, Kunsthalle Lissabon and Kunsthalle Tropical, Iceland (2016); Lichens Never Lie, La Criée Centre d’Art Contemporain, Rennes, FR (2016); Matter Fictions, Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisbon, PT (2016); The lynx knows no boundaries, Fondation d’Entreprise Ricard, Paris, FR (2015); Europe, Europe, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, NO (2014). She won the Novo Banco Revelação Prize in 2012 and was nominated for the EDP Foundation New Artists Prize in 2015, in Portugal. Escoval has received a fellowship from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and FLAD Foundation for a residency in RU, New York (2013-2014). She has recently published two flexi-discs with Atlas Projectos and Palmário Recordings and is currently working in a new vinyl release.