Nuno Sousa Vieira: Desisto – o que não vejo imagino

Nuno Sousa Vieira's multidisciplinary practice draws from his studio environment, where materials, colors, and motifs often become integral parts of his works. His pieces explore fundamental questions of form, volume, spatiality, and layering, intertwined with intellectual concerns linked to contemporary and art history.

In "Desisto – o que não vejo imagino," Sousa Vieira draws a parallel between the early 20th century, when artistic avant-gardes abandoned figuration for abstraction, and the current moment. The abundance of images and information, amplified by artificial intelligence, allows anyone to imitate or even invent reality. Abstract language gains renewed importance as a response to this excess of constructed reality, much like a political act.

The exhibition's title signals a refusal to comply with mechanisms that damage imagination and critical thinking. "Desisto" functions as a cry, a catharsis, an announcement of decisive action—not surrender. It is an act of resistance: the visible is not mandatory, the imagined need not cease to be. Over a century after Kazimir Malevich's Black Square caused a stir with its total absence of figuration and narrative, Sousa Vieira reminds us that painting is a place of event, and the artist must have something to say.