Primary structures: A place beyond failure
Solo exhibition
at Galeria Presença, Porto, Portugal
www.galeriapresenca.pt
Photography by Carlos Campos
Exhibition period
January 13th - March 3rd 2018
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/15ca9f1a0da3f69c966eb92fb8a92f917f50873f5a769ff735b01732ee1a4838/Primary-Structures---A-place-beyond-failure-Studio-Marisa-Ferreira-Visual-Artist--belas-artes.jpg)
These works present a kind of commemorative comment that encourages people to enjoy industrial ruins as spaces of leisure and imagination, as suggested by Edensor (2005) in his book "Industrial Ruins: Space, Aesthetics and Materiality".
Inspired by a tactile encounter with space and materiality, these works were born from a survey on the aesthetics of disorder, geometry, materiality and colour of four Portuguese companies that went bankruptcy in the decade 1998-2008. Built essentially with industrial materials such as steel, stainless steel and glass, these works are closely linked to our collective memory, desire and place. Perhaps a way of not forgetting this part of the Portuguese history, "the time of abandonment", after these abandoned buildings are demolished, recovered or given a new function (commercial, housing, etc).
-- Marisa Ferreira, December 2017
![Series Expanded Green (2017) | Powder coated steel |130 x 100 x 25 cm Series Expanded Blue (2017) | Powder coated steel |90 x 100 x 25 cm](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/764caa92be5841ac38758a5a46baf3534192336a0cc35b551d711e4bb01d76d8/Primary-Structures--A-place-beyond-failure-Studio-Marisa-Ferreira-Visual-Artist--belas-artes-2.jpg)
![Series Industrial Windows IV (2018) | Powder coated steel, mirrored stainless steel, coloured acrylic glass | 177 x 118 x 10cm](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6425d16cd02b782dc6c6f86a7007a44fc3f3a23c84f73b605680d3614225c213/Primary-Structures--A-place-beyond-failure-Studio-Marisa-Ferreira-Visual-Artist--belas-artes-7.jpg)
![Detail of Series Industrial Windows I (2018)](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/403d4e77c6bed798214b2534926e538879bcf515e90705025f08271701ab2888/Primary-Structures--A-place-beyond-failure-Studio-Marisa-Ferreira-Visual-Artist--belas-artes-6.jpg)
![Series Expanded Green (2017) | Powder coated steel |130 x 100 x 25 cm Series Cabinet I (2017) | Powder coated steel, galvanized steel, mirrored acrylic glass, coloured acrylic glass| 194 x 200 x 10cm](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/046ab805496328b040297ffa37f05d785f61be4b144dc297ab738704bc8b9ed7/Primary-Structures--A-place-beyond-failure-Studio-Marisa-Ferreira-Visual-Artist--belas-artes-3.jpg)
![Series Expanded Green (2017) | Powder coated steel |130 x 100 x 25 cm Series Expanded Blue (2017) | Powder coated steel |90 x 100 x 25 cm Race to the bottom (2017) | Powder coated steel, mirrored acrylic glass| 160 x 120 x 45cm](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7b5db8c50ff24839b8fd05e57e9c0dcef58552213efb8578cc210ec7453227a4/Primary-Structures--A-place-beyond-failure-Studio-Marisa-Ferreira-Visual-Artist--belas-artes-1.jpg)
![Series Industrial Windows II (2017) | Powder coated steel, mirrored stainless steel, coloured acrylic glass | 118 x 177 x 10cm](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/105c2a1fb824397f8f7bee065348ba3ec1161a9cbb487b844910e9dc326e785a/Primary-Structures--A-place-beyond-failure-Studio-Marisa-Ferreira-Visual-Artist--belas-artes-4.jpg)