CARLOS BARREIRA | PETER ROSMAN

Recalling the memory of Alberto Carneiro, who brought them together for the first time at one of the sculpture symposia, which began at Santo Tirso in 1991, the Portuguese sculptor Carlos Barreira and the Australian sculptor Peter Rosman celebrate 25 years of friendship on an exhibition taking place at the International Museum of Contemporary Sculpture.

Being both represented on the sculpture park of the city by Pedra Bulideira XXII (1993) and Canto (1993), these sculptors base their work, respectively, on matter and movement concepts, like we can see in a recent work by Carlos Barreira at Nadir Afonso Contemporary Art Museum (Chaves), and constructivist concepts of social and human nature, like it could be seen at the Venice Biennale (2017) in a work presented by Peter Rosman.

Based on these nuclear concepts, Carlos Barreira and Peter Rosman bring to the International Museum of Contemporary Sculpture a set of new pieces that illustrate coherence of sculptural paths and grammars in the light of these same concepts, and project the image of two singular creators capable of constantly renewing their approaches to sculpture.

Australian sculptor Peter Rosman was born in Melbourne in 1944. From 1963 to 1965 he was an Architecture student at the University of Melbourne, though he did not graduate. In 1968-69 he attended a sculpture post-graduate programme at St. Martin’s School of Art in London, and in 1973 obtained the Arts Diploma at the Preston Institute of Technology, Melbourne. In 1974 he received the Education Diploma at the former State College of Victoria, Melbourne. Rosman’s multidisciplinary practice includes installations combining materials like stone, wood and metal, as well as explores different techniques, such as printing on paper, wood or steel, in order to produce artist books. These have been developed over time and may be taken as autonomous objects or incorporated into new installations and sculptures. Since his first solo exhibition in 1976, his work has been extensively represented in several group exhibitions and symposia of outdoor sculpture in many countries — apart from his presence in the 2nd Santo Tirso International Symposium of Contemporary Sculpture, other events must be pointed out, such as the 4th International Sculpture Symposium held in 2008 in Davos, Switzerland and, more recently, the 18th Cerveira Biennale, Portugal 2015. Peter Rosman has also developed a web gallery, Terminal Artworks, online since 2008 at www.anywhere.com.au.

Carlos Barreira was born in Chaves, northern Portugal, in 1945, but made his home in Porto in 1967. In 1973, he completed the sculpture programme of the Porto School of Fine Arts, where he also lectured from 1977 to 2009. In addition to his practice as sculptor, he is also a designer and graphic artist, and has worked as stage and costume designer. In 1975-76 he was a member of the SAAL Project (Travelling Service of Local Support) and was the technical manager of the Seixo Brigade in S. Mamede de Infesta. He co-founded the Cerveira Biennale in 1978 and had his first one-man exhibition, “Carlos Barreira: Escultura”, in 1986, organised by the Porto Northern Delegation of the Portuguese Secretariat of State for Culture. Combining diverse materials, such as stone, wood, polyester, iron or steel, most of Barreira’s pieces are deliberately playful and dynamic, merging with the site where they are located and often requiring viewer interaction. He has developed serial sculpture, built up intermittently at different times in his career. The piece created for the 2nd Santo Tirso International Symposium of Contemporary Sculpture belongs in Bulideiras [rocking stones], one of the most productive series, started in 1984-85 — made of stone, featuring a movable upper part resting on a rectangular base, they are aligned with the “mother stone”, a natural rocking stone near Chaves. Carlos Barreira has often participated in sculpture symposia and workshops, as well as in art biennales, and built several public art sculptures. In 1999 he was awarded the grand prize at the Cerveira Biennale, and in 2009 the Matosinhos City Library dedicated him a retrospective exhibition, “Carlos Barreira: uma questão de matéria”.