By The Sea // Kampus // Transpraia 2024

On the shores of the Atlantic, at the emblematic station that takes visitors to the golden beaches to the south of Lisbon, Kampus takes over these places and appropriates this (a)typical landscape. The sand, the water and the teeming life that animates the coast become sources of inspiration. From stray dogs, to the yellow flags visible from his unusual studio, to shells collected on the beach, Kampus lets the imagery of the sea enter this exhibition.

He invites us to navigate between the suspended works, in a setting where we could almost play hide-and-seek. The artist doesn’t just depict reality, he reinvents it, seeking to capture the joy, humour and absurdity of the situations and people around us.

In his work, he exaggerates the shapes to provoke a smile. He creates a familiar world, populated by wacky landscapes and barely perceptible characters. Like a return to infancy, his canvases evoke the delicate imperfection of our childhood drawings. Each brushstroke is a reminder that nothing is perfect, and that’s precisely what the artist is looking for, whether he touches the canvas or not, depending on the technique he uses.

The exhibition offers us an extension of our holidays, inviting us to savour the lightness of existence and rediscover the beauty of simple moments, with a smile.

Pauline Foessel