“Surroundings” by Estúdio Mago

28.04.2022 ------> 23.07.2022

Group illustration exhibition curated by MAGO studio.

“I held myself too open, I forgot that outside not just things exist and animals fully at ease in themselves, whose eyes reach from their lives' roundedness no differently than portraits do from frames” — Rainer Maria Rilke

Surroundings is an artistic project that began in early 2021 as a response to the need to reflect on the understanding of space, as well as everything this concept surrounds, comprises, and/or contains. Under the pretext of gathering and exhibiting a varied group of artists who work with image, the risography studio MAGO curated, over three editions, the visions, readings, and interpretations of different artists on this very question.

It is a paradigmatic and inevitably challenging exercise: is it possible to contain the abstract multiplicity that constitutes space on a two‑dimensional sheet of paper? Is space a room, a street, a geographical reason, or an indelible memory? If space could be reduced to a map or a floor plan — where do we go when we are dreaming?

Surroundings presents itself as a rich and diverse collection that reflects what is being created today in drawing and illustration. Each artist had the opportunity to materialize, in a two‑color risograph print, their understanding of space, environment, and memory — a vision that is both unique and personal.

The first and second editions of Surroundings opened in Lisbon, while this third and final edition will be on view at the GAMA RAMA gallery in Faro, bringing together the work of all participating artists.