SPECIAL EDITION

Artwork created for CPS for the exhibition "Arquipélago Hervé Di Rosa" at MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, from March 29 to September 4, 2023

HERVÉ DI ROSA'S ARTWORK: A CIVILIZATION INSPIRED BY ART

Hervé di Rosa, a renowned French painter (b. 1959) long established in Portugal, has specially created the serigraphy "Idole Echouée" (Fallen Idol) for the Centro Português de Serigrafia.

This edition is presented in the context of his important exhibition at the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology - MAAT, Fundação EDP in Lisbon. Paintings, sculptures, tiles, and a collection of urban and industrial handicrafts from around the world make up his first and significant show in Portugal under the title "Archipelago," which refers to the universality of its content and geographical scope.

As the creator of the concepts of "Modest Art" (which, in his words, associates all the margins and peripheries of different territories of creation) and "Free Creation," Hervé di Rosa has been expanding his artistic approaches throughout his extraordinary and original journey. He has collaborated with craftsmen from various countries, including Tunisia, Bulgaria, Ghana, Benin, Ethiopia, Vietnam, South Africa, Corsica, Cuba, Mexico, the United States, Cameroon, Israel, among others.

For his current creation for CPS, the first serigraphy in the "Idols" series that he has been developing in recent years, "two wandering friends walk through imaginary ruins," which he considers "an invisible archaeology" precisely because it belongs to the realm of the imaginary, although reflecting iconic aspects of our civilization, as seen in the "grand buildings, shaped like idols with many eyes and limbs." In this case, as he explains, "our wandering friends encounter an idol stranded on the beach, the ruin of a forgotten ancient civilization, a proud civilization that has now vanished." Perhaps, the artist intends to demonstrate the precariousness of the principles inherent in the world of power and the imposition of arrogance and injustice by a few on many.

Bringing together elements of comic books, illustration, and painting, this historic edition demonstrates its harmony with the principles that have guided CPS from the beginning: the democratization of art and the aim to reach an increasingly broader audience,