Sílvio Salgado:
SMILE / Ways to Measure Time
21 July - 2 August 2025
Carrera 7A 87-81, Bogota D.C., Colombia
To visit, please contact +57 301 342 7853 or via.salgado.silvio@gmail.com
Across the wall, a painted horizontal line that seems to continue infinitely. On a large, framed paper, a multi-layered print whose pattern appears to transcend the surface to a new dimension. Gateways that lead to the beyond. Artworks by Sílvio Salgado are ephemeral and infinitive, yet they are physical interventions that have a beginning and an end, an existence in space and time. In the viewer, the works trigger both visual and conceptual sensations.
SMILE is a passing moment or a state of mind. SMILE expresses joy as well as confusion – and manifests the ephemerality of life.
Salgado engages the viewer in the tasks the artist undertakes in the production of an artwork, be it references to the artist’s performing body, his personal history, the preparatory research, or the characteristics of the exhibition space. The choice of the venue, an apartment, addresses our mental and physical boundaries; it redefines the private nature of the domestic space making it public.
Salgado reveals the temporal character of objects and events by exploring their history. He proves how our perceptions of reality are constructs of our collective experience and addresses the relation between human action and its consequences. Salgado leads the viewer to consider her or his role in time and space and, ultimately, address the mystery of human existence.
Sílvio Salgado (b. 1968) is a Portuguese artist living in Bogotá, Colombia and Helsinki, Finland. He has exhibited in various solo and group shows in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Portugal, the UK and other countries. He also works as an independent curator (e.g. Camoes Institute of Culture, Lisbon, Portugal, Baluarte de la Candelaria, Cadiz, Spain, WA Museum, Turku, Finland). Since 2001, Salgado presides over the Vienna International Apartment art association, an independent exhibition platform that creates opportunities for artists to collaborate internationally. Salgado studied sculpture and visual arts in London (Central St. Martin, Chelsea, Slade School of Arts) and graphic design in Lisbon (Antonio Arroyo). From 1989 to 1994, he was the Head of Photography and Printmaking at the Apart Oficina de Arts, Lisbon. www.vienna-international-apartment.net.
The exhibition SMILE / Ways to Measure Time by Sílvio Salgado
21 July - 2 August 2025
Residence of the Embassy of Finland, Cra. 7 A, 87-81, Bogota D.C., Colombia
To visit, please contact +57 301 342 7853 or via.salgado.silvio@gmail.com
Supported by
Vienna International Apartment Art Association
Embassy of Finland, Bogotá
Exhibition catalogue available