Sandra Birman turns grief into art in the exhibition ‘Escape’

Brazilian artist who lives in Lisbon presents works created with cutouts from tapestries inherited from her mother. Exhibition will open on 3 May at the Castra Leuca gallery, in Castelo Branco

Visual artist Sandra Birman found an unusual way to deal with the loss of her mother, at the end of 2019.

Upon entering the family apartment, in Rio de Janeiro, and find yourself in front of ancient fabrics and several examples of authentic gobelin tapestries, with the European landscapes that were part of its entire history until then, she decided to cut up the inheritance and transform it into material for her works.

The painting and collage work on those valuable textiles crossed the Atlantic Ocean with the artist , when he decided to move to Lisbon, early 2020. And gave rise to the “Escape” collection, that from the day 3 de Mayo, will be on display at the recently opened Castra Leuca Arte Contemporânea gallery, in Castelo Branco.

The title “Escape” is a reflection on the artist’s emotional and creative journey, in his first solo exhibition in Portugal. The name suggests an escape not only from the scenarios represented in the tapestries and fabrics, but also the cultural influences and memories that surround them. According to Sandra Birman, although, the word “escape”, which comes from “landscape” (landscape in English), also adds the idea of ​​transcending, transform and create a new visual and emotional world.

“In addition to escaping memories and cultural influences, there is an escape for the imagination, with the works resulting from the reinvention of idyllic images of European landscapes becoming ‘imaginary maps’, that suggest an escape into a world of new memories and challenges. Escape from limitation, in which the reconstruction of an environment based on the fragmentation of natural landscapes escapes the limitations of traditional representation and paves the way for an interpretation free of visual dogmas. And escape as transformation, in which the artistic process of cutting, paint and reinvent images, allows me an escape from the obvious patterns of landscapes, with its transformation into something unusual and unique”, explains the artist, which for the second time was selected for the RA Summer Exhibition and will once again have one of its works exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, in London.

Graphic designer by training and with a successful career in creating logos for companies and already halfway through her career as a visual artist, Sandra Birman wanted to experience the look on the other side of the mirror when joining, in 2022, in postgraduate studies in Art Curating, at the New University of Lisbon.

It was in the course classes that he met César Correia, an engineer by training who, After the pandemic, he decided to abandon his career in management and marketing to give vent to his passion for the arts. César is the owner of Castra Leuca, the first private gallery of Contemporary Art from the interior of Portugal.

"During the course, We became friends and I had the opportunity and pleasure to get to know Sandra's work. Even before finishing graduate school, I had already proposed to Sandra to do an exhibition in my future gallery”, says Cesar Correia, who was born in the village of Benquerenças and returns to the land after living the last few years in Aveiro.

In the conversations to formalize the project of taking Sandra's exhibition to César's gallery, opened in March this year, The friends had a happy surprise. The more the artist shared details about her work, but the gallerist had discovered the synergy between Sandra's works and Castelo Branco's embroidery, the Jardim do Paço Episcopal and the city in general.

“I invited Sandra to come and see Castelo Branco and it was very pleasant to see the enchantment and connection she felt and all the dialogues that can be built between the city and her work. It was a magical and warm day, despite the cold that was felt”, remember Caesar, supplementing: “The cut tapestries and the new landscapes built by Sandra, in dialogue with the embroidery of Castelo Branco, and the black holes in connection with the Jardim do Paço Episcopal and its labyrinths made with bushes, transport me to the memories of my childhood, that are an escape for my childhood memories, who played and ran in that garden freely and carelessly”.

Parallel to the exhibition, Sandra Birman will give a guided tour open to the public, to 16 de Mayo. And the 25 de Mayo, the artist will give a workshop on collages.

“My biggest objective in opening a gallery in my city is to boost contemporary art in the interior of Portugal, exposing, marketing and promoting the work of national and foreign artists”, says César Correia.

"ESCAPE" AT GALLERY CASTRA LEUCA
Inauguration: 3 de Mayo, at 4:00 pm
Closure: 16 of June
Household: Santa Maria Street 129, 6000-178, withe Castle
Free entry

ABOUT CASTRA LEUCA

The Castra Leuca Arte Contemporânea gallery is a cultural entrepreneurship project, by Cesar Correia, with own capital, based in Castelo Branco. The main objectives of this art gallery, opened in March 2024, is to bring part of the contemporary art market to the interior of Portugal, exposing, marketing and promoting contemporary art made by national and foreign artists.

Castra Leuca Arte Contemporânea is the only private contemporary art gallery that sells contemporary art, not interior of Portugal. It is intended to, yet, create greater dynamics between art and contemporary artists, contributing to increasing public interest, mainly the public from the interior of Portugal, through artistic means as a form of cultural expression.

Through the use of new technologies, promoting cultural events, conversations with artists, workshops and other communication and marketing actions, intended, departing from the city of Castelo Branco, extend the gallery’s radius of influence to the entire Portuguese territory and even abroad. The name, Camp Leuca, refers to an ancient settlement thought to have existed where it is located, today, the current city.

César Correia was born in the village of Benquerenças, having completed primary education there. Preparatory and secondary education was carried out in schools in Castelo Branco. Upon completion of secondary education, headed to Coimbra, where he graduated in Physics Engineering, in the specialty of Materials Science.

It was in Coimbra where he began his professional activity, having, after a couple of years, moved his professional activity to the city of Aveiro, where did you finish, at the University of Aveiro, o Master in Industrial Minerals and Rocks. It was also in the city of Aveiro that he completed a postgraduate degree in Marketing, by the Portuguese Institute of Marketing Administration. Performed duties, for a brief period, not department of I&D of a construction materials company, embarked, in this same company, by a management activity linked to marketing.

During your professional activity in the marketing department, in Portugal, held the roles of product manager and marketing director. In the international marketing department of the same company, based in Paris, held the roles of international marketing project manager and senior international product manager.

With more than 20 years of experience in marketing management, the entrepreneur has now decided, make a long time dream come true, which is having a professional activity that can combine passion for art and marketing experience. To complete and formally solidify knowledge in artistic areas, attended during the years 2022 and 2023 a Postgraduate degree in Art Curation at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

SANDRA BIRMAN SITE: 

Sandra Birman – Visual Artist

CASTRA LEUCA GALLERY WEBSITE: 

Camp Leuca – Contemporary Art