This monographic volume dedicated to the work of Pedro Barateiro spans a
period that dates back to 2008 and features extensive visual and written
material of key projects presented in solo exhibitions, as well as other
relevant installations, videos and performances.
How to Make a Mask borrows its title from one of Pedro Barateiro's
performances in which the artist reflects upon the role of the individual
within the sociopolitical situations of the collective through references
ranging from psychological tests to the history of theater. By sharing the
same title as the performance, the publication acknowledges the central role
this piece has attained in terms of understanding and articulating
Barateiro's ongoing inquiry into what modes of being in the world we are
able to (re) produce. It was developed and first presented in a period in
which
social media exposure
started defining new forms of personal interaction, only to be further
mediated by technology and interpreted by algorithms and bots whose sole
purpose seems to be to satisfy our immediate desires. It is now apparent to
us, after all these years, that such new forms of communication and
interaction are easily manipulated, facilitating new forms of political
control.
Along with the artist's own writings and visual material, this volume
features new essays by
Ana Teixeira Pinto and Anders Kreuger, an epilogue by
Pieternel Vermoortel and Els Silvrants-Barclay, and an extended note by the
editors João Mourão and Luís Silva.
Pedro Barateiro (born 1979 in Almada, Portugal, lives and works in Lisbon) graduated in MA at Visual Arts (2006) at the Malmö Art Academy, Sweden and in Mamaus – School of Visual Arts (2003-2005), Lisbon. He was the artist in residence at
Palais de Tokyo (2008-2009), Paris, France; and ISCP – International Studio and Curatorial Program (2007-2008), New York. He participated at 29th São Paulo Biennial, Brazil, 5th Berlin Biennale (2008), 16th Biennale of Sydney (2008), Australia, Photo España (2008) and Busan Biennial (2006), South Korea. He held solo and group exhibitions in several public and private institutions around the world, such as:
Ça & là (2012), Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, Paris, France;
ReaKt – Views and Processes (2012), Capital Europeia da Cultura, Guimarães, Portugal;
Theatre of Hunters (2011), Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland;
Theory of Speech (2009), Casa Serralves – Serralves Museum, Oporto, Portugal;
Amanhã não nasce ninguém (2009), MARCO – Vigo Contemporary Art Museum, Spain;
Domingo (2008), Pavilhão Branco - Museu da Cidade, Lisbon;
Art Nova (2006), Art Basel, Miami Beach, USA;
What are we doing here? (2005), Spike Island Artspace, Bristol, UK; and
Video Exchange / Premuta de Vídeo (2002), Rosenberg Gallery & The Commons, New York University, USA.
His work is present in several public collections, such as: Deusche Bank Collection, Germany; EDP Foundation, Portugal; Serralves Museum, Oporto, Portugal; ARCO Foundation, Madrid, Spain; BESart – Colecção Banco Espírito Santo, Lisbon, Portugal; CAM – Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal; Fundación “la Caixa”, Barcelona, Spain.