PRESS
Photography by Oddbjørn Erland Aarstad
On Solo exhibition “ An Archive of Evidence”
( Norwegian original text)
“ Kunstnaren Brynhild Grødeland Winther hadde vinteren 2022 utstilling på Hå gamle prestegard saman med kunstnarane Marisa Ferreira og Per Odd Aarrestad. Grødeland Winther såg noko i samanstillinga av sine medutstillarar som ho ikkje klarte å la vere å skrive om. I denne kunstnarteksten skildrar ho det ho kallar «mentale snuble-trådar mellom desse to utstillingane» og korleis vi kan forstå vår plass i naturen. “
Link here |
https://www.contemporaryartstavanger.no/a-bli-fanga-i-ville-strekar-og-eit-glimt-av-hap-i-soppelhauge
Photography by Louis Vuitton
Featured in Fashion Network (EUA) , 18.07.2022
“ Inside the largest Louis Vuitton men's store in the United States “
The piece invokes David Brewster's 1817 invention “kaleidoscope” to explore the idea of "multiplicity”. Drawing from installation art from the 1970s, the artwork is created by combining small scale repeated forms made on stainless steel and mirror glass organised by the Fibonacci numerical grid. The use of acrylic mirrors is influenced by the kaleidoscope reflective possibilities to create a force of optical and kinetic experience which engage and challenge the viewer´s perception of space as new symmetries and colour compositions (dis) appear according to our position in space.
Link here |
https://ww.fashionnetwork.com/news/Inside-the-largest-louis-vuitton-men-s-store-in-the-united-states,1424720.html
Photography by Carlos Campos
Essay for “ Rising Sea”
Public Art
( Norwegian original text)
by MonaGjessing
Måten mange av de yngre kunstnerne har blitt valgt ut på av Spjelkavik Aslaksen/Furuholmen er eksemplarisk. REV Oceans kunstsamling har, slik det står beskrevet i innledningen til utstillingskatalogen, fokusert på å løfte frem unge, norske kunstnerskap. En rekke verk som har havnet i kunstsamlingen og i As far as my Eyes can Sea- The Expedition Exhibition er kjøpt fra avgangsutstillingene for BA og MA ved kunstakademiene i Tromsø, Bergen, Trondheim og Oslo. Blant de unge merket jeg meg spesielt portugisiskfødte Marisa Ferreira (f. 1983, Portugal) hvis monumentale, stramt komponerte veggarbeid i metall og speil, Rising Sea (2021), gir assosiasjoner til et bølgende hav. Utgangspunktet for valg av materialer er konseptuelt og Ferreiras mål er at betrakteren skal se refleksjonen av seg selv i skulpturen, «på samme måte som vi må lære oss å se oss selv som en del av klimaendringene», slik det står beskrevet i utstillingskatalogen.
Link Here |
https://kunstavisen.no/artikkel/2021/kunst-pa-vei-mot-det-apne-hav
Featured in Widewalls maganize , 19.02.2020 “ What Will These Two Guest Curators Bring to Art Paris 2021? “
The new site-specific project by Marisa Ferreira (born 1983) titled Lost Future (2020) takes inspiration from Le Corbusier’s Plan Voisin (1925) – an urban development project for Paris comprised of 18 cruciform glass skyscrapers placed on an orthogonal grid of streets interspersed with green spaces.
The plan, which was never implemented, envisioned demolishing the Marais neighborhood as a way of solving issues of unhealthy housing and overpopulation. Le Corbusier called it the “city of tomorrow,” a symbol of European modernity.
Directly referencing this emblematic project, the cross-shaped column imagined by Marisa Ferreira evokes the gap between the utopian ambitions of the 1970s and the current property boom that pays no heed to the history and identity of cities such as Porto and Lisbon.
Link here |
https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/art-paris-2020-guest-curators-interview
Photography by Øystein Thorvaldsen
Featured in The Guardian newspaper, 18.09.2018
"10 of the best outdoor art installations worldwide"
(...) "Shall we dance?, Oslo
Shall we dance? On a quiet street, close to the harbour in Oslo, the pavement is painted in a zigzag of white strips with intertwined coloured blocks and a jolly yellow speaker has been installed. You are invited to connect your phone to its wifi hotspot to play music to dance to. It’s a simple idea, but we thoroughly enjoyed our dance ... and so did the locals! by Anna Baker"
Link here | https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/aug/30/outdoor-art-installations-worldwide-readers-travel-tips
Photo: Blues Studio Photography/ Andre Cepeda
Essay for “Transparency, Reflection and Colour”
Solo exhibition by Marisa Ferreira (1983)
by Martin Fox
Marisa Ferreira’s colourful art invites us to view actively, to move around, to be aware of our looking. As individual works of art and as an ensemble, they encourage participatory aesthetic experiences rather than passive ones, transforming our understanding by encouraging active vision, movement, and thought. Her project, she states, “becomes not how to understand space, but rather how to make oneself open enough to perceive it.”
Since its origins, abstraction has enabled the development of art based on the understanding of human perception, and in turn the creation of works that may extend that understanding. Artists exploring these possibilities are inspired by research in human physiology and psychology, but also by intuition and a phenomenological attention to sight and engagement with space. Ferreira’s art also embraces aesthetic beauty and invites emotional responses.
Transparency, Reflection and Colour includes works from multiple series. The first, Notes on colour and form are acrylic paintings on board. These are explorations of the possibilities of composition and interactions of colour. Looking within and between works, we are prompted to challenge our perceptions and consider gestalt principles including proportion, harmony, movement, and balance.
The Expanded series continue Ferreira’s explorations into three-dimensional space, and function between painting and sculpture. Consisting of lacquered metal p
lates, these works are both systematic and exuberant. Relating to their environment, the coloured planes of the Expanded series are composed in three-dimensional depth, catching light and shadow and arranging colour and form in surprising ways.
Ferreira makes the Folds series from stainless steel plates bent into geometric forms
, combining two- and three-dimensional shapes. Each raised to a height of 1.7 meters, the Folds are partially painted in primary colours, with sections of the mirrored stainless steel reflecting the surrounding space and viewers, and dissolving borders between artwork and observer. She also creates metal drawings with thin steel tubes which articulate space and are painted in a single colour.
The final series includes two large-scale works: Chromatic Symphony and Asymme
tric compositions. Each is constructed from sheets of aluminium bent into regular angles across its entire length, then painted in acrylic with saturated, prismatic colours and patterns. These shaped supports mean that each work is a single composition, but one that cannot be seen in its entirety from any one viewpoint. Instead, they change in appearance continuously, based on the viewer’s active looking and movement. What do you see?
Martin Fox (1974) is an art historian, writer, and editor based in Montclair, New Jersey. He earned an MA from Stanford University in Art History, and currently works at Pace Gallery, New York.
Photography by Christopher Jonassen
Honorable mentin at Østlandsutstilling 2016
About "Expanded Series II", the jury -- art critic Lars Elton and curator Monica Holmen -- wrote:
(Original text in Norwegian)
"Expanded Series II av Marisa Ferreira er et tiltalende, visuelt slående og fargesterkt veggobjekt. Gjennom sin romlighet inviterer det betrakteren til å bevege seg rundt verket og betrakte det fra ulike vinkler. Kunstverket refererer til den modernistiske kunsthistorien og tolker den med en personlig vri og en forfriskende dreining. Fargebruken tilhører vår tid, og selv om verket står i en sterk tradisjon, har kunstneren maktet å finne sin egen retning."
(Translation) "Expanded Series II of Marisa Ferreira is an appealing, visually striking and colorful wall object. Through its spatiality invites the viewer to move around the work and look at it from different angles. The artwork refers to the Modernist art history and interprets it with a personal touch and a refreshing shift. the use of color belong to our time and even if the work is in a strong tradition, the artist has managed to find its own direction. "
On public art project to Porsgrunn Kirke
- "Slik vil den nye kirken fremstår" Page 1 | Page 2, Varden - 1.06.2016, p. 42-4
Photography by Christopher Jonassen
On solo exhibition "Space, Rhythm and Movement", Messmer Kunsthalle, Germany
- "Kunsthalle Messmer - Marisa Ferreira Exhibition" (In German)
Link to Rib-Magazine's article online: https://www.rib-magazin.de/kunsthalle-messmer-ausstellung-marisa-ferreira/
Photography by Christopher Jonassen
On solo exhibition "Space, Rhythm and Movement", Galleri Gann, Norway
- Included in the article on 2015 in Review "Utstillingsperlene skinner Page 1 | Page 2" by art critic Trond Borgen, Stavanger Aftenblad - 4.01.2016, p. 40-41.
- "Alle elsker Marisa" by Eli Næsheim, Stavanger Aftenblad - 4.03.2015, p. 46
Link to the article online: https://www.aftenbladet.no/kultur/billedkunst/Alle-elsker-Marisa-3647257.html
- "Marisa Ferreira i Galleri Gann", by Ole S. Nerheim, Rogaland Avis 4.03.2016, p. 23
Photography by Vibeke Christensen
On "Constructions on Colour", duo exhibition with artist Susanne K. Mader, Galleri BOA, Oslo
- Exhibition text by curator Joakim Borda-Pedreira
"Marisa Ferreira & Susanne Kathlen Mader at BOA
Already in its earliest incarnations, the modernist avant-garde made equations between musical composition and abstract painting. It is plausible to suggest that it was within mu
sic that a conceptual language for the abstract composition was first developed. In her work, Susanne Kathlen Mader (b. 1964 in Germany) re-asserts this connection as she constructs unquestionably precise geometrical compositions that seem to almost balance on a nanoscopic scale.
That apparent strive for perfection is superficially akin to the utopian ambitions of such predecessors from De Stij to the Bauhaus School and other subsequent movements of concrete art. They struggled to break away from the bonds of representation, a project that still seems less than fulfilled. Seen against this background, Susanne Kathlen Mader does not offer a continuation but rather a re-interpretation of an. Her works, whether painted on boards or directly on the wall, centre on the distribution of space, often even extending beyond th
e picture plane as she allows tri-dimensional elements protrude from the picture plane. Her compositions are superficially explorations of geometric forms, but on closer examination it is revealed that Mader actually undermines, rejects even, the stability of geometric law. She accomplishes perfect balance and exactitude with asymmetric forms and interrupted lines. Her compositional theory is not based on mathematics, but rather follows musical epistemology with its concepts of atonality, counterpoint and harmony.
Unlike concrete art, Mader’s works are never flat and two-dimensional; on the contrary she excels in creating depth and density with colour fields and lines, playing both with our perceptions and our expectations.
Marisa Ferreira (b. 1983 in Portugal), also works with colour and space, yet her use of geometry is entirely mathematical. In fact the artist makes use of highly sophisticated mathematical calculations to render the patterns and forms that constitute her ‘algorithmic’ work. As such it avoids art historical references and has little to do with either concrete or Op art. Ferreira has a scientific approach and rejects illusion as a trick, but rather relies on the effects of contrasting colour and mathematical variation.
Ferreira builds her compositions after careful research, constructing reliefs from painted wood blocks. Rather than creating an illu
sion of perception – in the mind of the beholder – her work forces the viewer to become conscious of his or her presence in the space, as the works never have a neutral point of view. Depending on the viewers’ position the work will change its pattern and colours, activating the space, altering the experience of it. Marisa Ferreira makes us aware of our own subjectivity, as two people viewing the same painting and at the same time can have a completely opposite experience – where one sees blue the other sees red. This social implication takes Ferreira’s works out of the purely scientific world and into the cultural sphere.
It is the diametrically opposed artistic methods
between Susanne Kathlen Mader and Marisa Ferreira that make their encounter unexpectedly fruitful. Together they show us the urgency of geometric abstract art and the strength of their conceptual approach to painting. The exhibition at BOA may not be collaboration in the strictest sense, yet it proves that artistic encounters can enrich the individual practice as well as the exhibition visitor’s understanding."
On painting "Serie Shaped Colour I" (2013) as part of the Stavanger KunstMuseum Collection
- "Winning Artist Announced for Stavanger Art Project" by Natalie Hilton in Stavanger News, 18.06.2014, NO
- "Vant publikums gunst og kjøpes av museet", by Eli Næsheim in Stavanger Aftenblad Newspaper, 12.06.2014, NO
On exhibition "Lost Garden" at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (2012) www.hok.no
- "Den hemmelighetsfulle hagen", by Lars Mørch Finborud in Hennie Onstad Kunstsenter DM uke 34 22.08.2012, p. 3, NO
- "En eventyr verden på Høvik" page 1 | page 2 by Martine Hoff Jensen in Bærumsavisen, 13.06.2012, p. 6-7, NO
On Art Marked situation in Norway
(Original excerpt of the text in Norwegian)
"(...) - Dette året kan bli enda bedre. I februar hadde vi utstilling med Marisa Ferreira, en ung og lovende kunstner, men vi regnet ikke med særlig salg. Der tok vi feil, sier Gundersen (...)"
(Translation)
" (...) - This year could be even better. In February we had exhibition of Marisa Ferreira, a young and promising artist, but we did not expect particularly sales. There we took wrong, says Gundersen. (...)"
The whole text here: - "Kunstsalg i Norge" by Eli Næsheim in Stavanger Aftenblad Newspaper, 02.05.2012, p. 27, NO
Infogallery at P3 - Portuguese newspaper
- "Marisa Ferreira - sucesso a 2500km", infogallery at P3, Publico Newspaper, 14.03.2012, PT
On "Inngang 2012 - Sted", group exhibition at Rogaland Kunstsenter (2012)
- Art review art critic Trond Borgen, Stavanger Aftenbladet, 13.02.2012, p. 30
(Original excerpt of the text in Norwegian)
"(...) Derfor bør du se denne ut-stillingen: den rommer enkel-te fine opplevelser og en oppfinnsom omgang med materialer og former. Marisa Ferreira, som nylig avsluttet sin utstilling i Galleri Sult, har laget en hengende kube av røde bånd. Den virker kompakt, men når jeg ser nærmere etter, åpner det seg små rom inni, nøye avgrenset geometrisk; dette er en lukket, skjult grunnplan av etasjen over utstillingslokalet. Konkret og fysisk opplever jeg den der jeg gløtter og løfter på båndene, som fanger lyset så sensuelt – jeg åpner hemmelige rom som synes å lukke seg i samme stund."
- Newspaper cover with my piece "Passage I" (2012) "Mangfoldig", Photo: Pål Christensen, Cover Stavanger Aftenblad - Lokal & Kultur, 29.02.2012, cover, NO
On "Space+Form", solo exhibition at Galleri Sult, Stavanger (2012)
- Art Review by art critic Trond Borgen, Stavanger Aftenbladet - 16.02.2012, p. 34
"FARGENES ARKITEKTUR
Det svinger i heftige rytmer og sterkt fargede utbrudd i Galleri Sult for tiden.
Men den voldsomme fargeintensiteten holdes i sjakk av malerienes stramme komposisjon i portugisiske Marisa Ferreiras utstilling – faktisk holder hun alle sine bilder i et stramt jerngrep. Her finnes ikke noe rom for tilfeldigheter; alt er nøye planlagt, faktisk konstruert. For dette er konstruerte malerier, på mer enn ett vis. Ikke bare i komposisjonen; noen av bildene er malt på det jeg vil kalle plisserte aluminiumsplater; de er brettet i loddrette kanter på et vis som forvandler flaten til et tre-dimensjonalt objekt, som igjen gir maleriene en optisk og en kinetisk effekt: motivet synes å bevege seg når jeg flytter meg i rommet.
Retro
Også flatebildene malt med akryl på lerret kan virke tredimensjonale pga. de intrikate geometriske mønstrene Ferreira bruker. Dermed får hele utstillingen et retropreg, for den kunsten hun viser til, og til dels siterer, er 1960-tallets op art og kinetiske kunst. Den optiske kunsten, som vi så den for eksempel hos Vasa-rely, hadde som sitt mål å lure blikket, slik at vi oppfattet en flate som tre-dimensjonal; den kinetiske kunsten, som Bridget Riley er den mest framtredende representanten for, skapte lignende synsillusjoner hvor linjer og former på lerretet tilsynelatende beveget seg, både i selve komposisjonen og i rommet.
Klarhet
Så er utstillingen i Sult ikke minst et sted hvor man kan bli nostalgisk, for det er ikke ofte vi ser en samtids-kunstner sitere denne delen av nyere kunsthistorie. For et øyeblikk er jeg tilbake til sekstiårene. Men Ferreira går ett steg videre; hun legger inn så klare konstruksjoner i maleriene at de får et stramt arkitektonisk preg. Konstruksjonsprinsippene hennes dels skjærer igjennom, dels føyer seg til, farge-nes eget liv her, og intrikate, ganske forrykende rytmer oppstår. Dette er den heftigste utstillingen jeg har sett på svært lenge; men den er også den utstillingen som har det strammeste kontrollgrepet fra kunstnerens hånd – det er den ekstreme orden som hindrer kaos.
Rytmene
Ikke minst når jeg beveger meg gjennom rommet, ser jeg at disse rytmene dreier seg, helt direkte, både om mitt kroppslige og mentale forhold til enkeltbilde og helhet. Det er like et-ter at jeg har hatt denne umiddelbare opplevelsen at den analytiske setter inn, med koplingen til den historiske optiske og kinetiske kunsten – jeg liker denne dobbelheten i opplevelsen av en utstilling som strammer seg om fargens arkitektur samtidig som den danser meg gjennom de sterkeste fargeklanger.
Trond Borgen"
- "Portugisisk kunst med flere dybber i Galleri Sult" by Eli Næsheim in Stavanger Aftenblad Newspaper, 01.02.2012, p. 34, NO
- "Geometrisk kunst", Photo: Fredrik Refvem, Cover Stavanger Aftenblad - Lokal & Kultur, 01.02.2012, cover, NO
- "Aktuelt Kunst", Photo: Roger Aure, Text: Ole Nerheim, Back cover of "PULS", montly supplement of Rogaland Avis, 27.01.2012, nr 2/ 2012, back cover, NO
Exhibition Review
On "Go ahead... Touch me", group exhibition
at Manifest Gallery, Ontorio, USA
- Art Review on Sculpture Magazine -- 11/2011 by Jane Durrell
(Original text)
"(...) Though the Norwegian entry, from Marisa Ferreira, almost comes off as a panting, it is purposefully and importantly threee-dimensional. Transformable Wall Object I (2011) filled almost an entire wall with a gridded arrangement of wooden squares (approximately four inches to a side and about half inch thick), sporting a bright acrylic color on each and every face. The back sides of the panels were attached to the wall with Velcro, and viewers could arrange an re-arrange at will. An edge color, for instance, could be used as a visual lead-in to the face color of its neighbor, which in turn could relate in one way or another to the other pieces next to it. (...)"
"Åpne atelier i hele fylket i helgen", by Eli Næsheim
Aftenblad Newspaper, 04.11.2010, Norway
