THE BLACK SQUARE | A performance by António Olaio and Richard Strange

15 Novembro 2024 21h30


THE BLACK SQUARE | A performance by António Olaio and Richard Strange
 
On November 15th and 16th at 9:30 PM, Zaratan is pleased to present "THE BLACK SQUARE," an immersive experience that challenges the limits of language and artistic expression. Two characters in a dystopian, yet near future, where truth and artifice blur, and a widespread aphasia is imminent. The end of images as the end of the world.
 
TECHNICAL AND ARTISTIC CREW:
Scenography: António Olaio and Richard Strange
Concept and performance: António Olaio and Richard Strange
Support: Direção-Geral das Artes / República Portuguesa

INFORMATION:
When: November 15th and 16th, 2024, at 9:30 PM

Where: Zaratan – Arte Contemporânea, Rua de São Bento 432, 1250-221, Lisbon
Duration: 60 minutes
Age range: 12+
Tickets: €10 [Maximum attendance: 30 people each session]
Reservations: production@zaratan.pt
 
BIOGRAPHIES:

ANTÓNIO OLAIO (born 1963, Lubango, Angola) currently resides in Coimbra. He holds a degree in Fine Arts/Painting from the School of Fine Arts of Porto and a PhD (2000) from the University of Coimbra, where he focused on Marcel Duchamp's work. He is a professor in the Department of Architecture at the same university and a researcher at CEIS20.
Olaio is both a painter and a performer. His early involvement in music in the 1980s led him to co-found the rock band "Repórter Estrábico" in 1986. Since 1995, he has frequently incorporated songs created with João Taborda and other musicians into his videos and exhibitions. His latest album, "Anywhere Else," features collaborations with Richard Strange, Victor Torpedo, Vitor Rua, Frederico Nunes, Anselmo Canha, Paulo Furtado, José Valente, Érika Machado, Silvestre Correia, Susana Chiocca, Luís Figueiredo, Ana Deus, Haarvöl, Pedro Tudela, and Miguel Carvalhais.
His recent collaboration with musician, actor, and performer Richard Strange has resulted in musical projects as well as performance pieces such as "When you awake, you will remember nothing," which has been presented in Coimbra, Lisbon, Porto, and London.
Olaio has exhibited his work individually and performed in Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, the USA, and the United Kingdom. He was the director of the College of Arts at the University of Coimbra from 2013 to 2023.
Selected solo exhibitions and performances since 2000: 2023- Black Jello Birthday Party, NO·NO, Lisbon; 2022 – Polka Dot Brain, Galeria Belo Galsterer, Lisboa - 2021; My fourth Incarnation, Zaratan, Lisbon - Next to the Next Century, Kubik, Porto; João, also known as James, also known as Steve, also known as Franz, also known as Boris – kubikulo, Galeria Kubik, Porto; Desterrado, galeria Ala da Frente, Famalicão; 2017- Cleaning up the Vacuum, Galeria Fernando Santos, Porto 2015 –Heading West, Appleton Square, Lisboa 2013- The sorrows of electricity, Filomena Soares, Lisbon; 2011– This widow is blocking my Windows, Museu do Chiado, Lisbon; 2010- La Prospettiva is sucking reality, Museu do Neo-Realismo, Vila Franca de Xira; Na cátedra de S. Pedro, Museu Grão Vasco, Viseu; 2009 - La prospettiva, Mario Mauroner, Viena; Brrrrain, Culturgest, Lisbon; Crying my brains out, Filomena Soares, Lisboa; 2004 - 40 years in a plane, Kenny Schachter conTEMPorary, New York. 2003 - You are what you eat, Centro Cultural Andratx, Palma de Maiorca, 2002 - Telepathic agriculture, Galerie Schuster, Berlin and Frankfurt.
Public collections: Ministry of Culture, Serralves Museum, Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra, Extremeño Ibero-American Museum of Contemporary Art, Badajoz, Spain, EDP Foundation / MAAT, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, National Museum of Contemporary Art / Museu do Chiado, PMLJ Collection, among others. [ http://antonioolaio.com ]

RICHARD STRANGE (born 1958, London) has been a ubiquitous figure in London's cultural scene since forming his band, the Doctors of Madness, in 1975. Much like Zelig, he's had a presence in every corner of the city's cultural life. In 1980, he founded the influential Cabaret Futura, a venue for concerts and performances where bands like Depeche Mode played their early gigs. As an actor, he has worked with directors such as Tim Burton, Neil Jordan, Martin Scorsese, Harmony Korine, and Bob Wilson.
Selected live performances and digressions: 2021/2022: "When you awake, you will remember nothing" (with António Olaio), TAGV, Coimbra; Espaço Mira, Porto; Pogo Teatro, Lisbon; THe Courtyard Theater, London. 2018 "Unknown Remembered". Spitalfields Festival, London. 2018 "The Phenomenal Rise Of Richard Strange", performances with Nick Cave, Patti Smith and The Psychedelic Furs; 2018 Tour of his show "An Accent Waiting To Happen"; 2016 Japanese tour with the "Doctors of Madness"; 2015 Frieze Art Fair, London; 2014 "Queen Elizabeth Hall", London. Director, producer and writer of "Language Is A Virus From Outer Space", a tribute to William Burroughs, co-authored with Gavin Bryars. 2013 Sang as a Baritone in Frank Zappa's "200 Motels". London, Royal Festival Hall; 2013 Liverpool Walker Art Gallery, performance with Haroon Mirza; 2012 Manchester Art Gallery, performance with Haroon Mirza; 2008 St Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, New York, songs with Walt Disney with David Byrne, Steve Buscemi, Suzanne Vega and David Johannsen; 2008 Royal Festival Hall Meltdown with Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave, Peter Docherty, Grace Jones and Shane McGowan; 2004-6 The Black Rider, by Tom Waits and William Burroughs. Directed by Robert Wilson. With Marianne Faithfull. Theatre: The Black Rider. (2004/2006) - Old Kuno. Los Angeles/London/San Francisco and Sydney. Dir. Robert Wilson/Tom Waits/William Burroughs; “Protein Dance”. (2003/4) -; “A última noite” de Antonin Artaud’ (2001). “The Agent”, London “Invisible Theatre”. Dir. Duncan Ward; “Crimes of Passion” Hamlet (1989/1990) - Gravedigger/King Player, World Tour. Dir. Yuri Lyubimov. [ www.richardstrange.com ]