IRREGULARITIES

Barreiro, Lisbon, Portugal

2024

In the post-industrial landscape of Barreiro, Lisbon, until the 1970s one of the largest industrial areas in Portugal and the starting point of revolutionary and trade union movements, irregularities are taking shape: Caput Mortuum, a toxic pigment containing iron oxide, covers the surface right down to the bottom of the Tejo River. It is a remnant of the former industry for the production of copper oxide for fertilisers and paint primers. Anna Franke interprets the history of the abandoned industrial site and captures it in the thick, irregular layer of her sculptures.

The forms meander through the space above us as a dark purple, floating mass. Labyrinths with a bloody, earthy, fat, dark surface, with organic, bulging forms seem to have solidified, telling of upheaval states, resistance, limbo, pain. They are the result of experiments in the pigment-soaked post-industrial area of Caput Mortuum, where nature and industry merge, where productivity is still palpable and now stands still. They immerse themselves in the ruins of this landscape, amidst the human and industrial remains of a memorable past.

Irregularities consists of a series of three sculptures and a series of photographs of the creative process in Barreiro, Lisboa, the result of the artistic residency at Pada Studios.