The title references Archimedes’ Principle, a foundational concept in physics that describes the buoyant force exerted on objects submerged in a fluid. Santos uses this theorem as both a poetic and conceptual starting point, exploring the tension between weight and levity, form and formlessness, rest and motion, in her sculptural practice. For the exhibition, Santos presents new and recent works that unfold in dialogue between the (Projectspace) and the gallery garden.

These works extend her ongoing investigation into the transformative and ambiguous nature of objects, pushing the boundaries of how materiality and functionality are perceived. Using found objects, ranging from exhaust pipes to pans, hoses and Christmas ornaments, Santos reconfigures and recombines them, revealing new meanings and relationships through subtle interventions. Her approach often juxtaposes raw, familiar materials with refined finishes like lacquer, creating a dissonance that invites closer examination. These objects are stripped of their original functions, becoming signals or echoes of their past lives.

The works float, metaphorically and physically, embodying a precarious balance where functionality dissolves into an altered, almost spectral existence. Through this interplay of forms, the artist constructs a universe of color, space, and voids, an intricate choreography of conduits and pathways. Fluctuation ties the pieces in this exhibition, with each work embodying a suspension. How to resist the pull of gravity, and exist in a state of delicate equilibrium.

Biography:

Ana Santos (Espinho, 1982) lives and works in Lisbon. She graduated in Visual Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Porto and obtained a Masters in Contemporary Culture and New Technologies from the Nova University of Lisbon. Santos has studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe (Germany) and has been an artist-in-residence at the ISCP in New York and La Cité International des Arts, Paris, 2024. In 2013, Santos won the Portuguese EDP Prize. Among her individual institutional exhibitions are ‘Colecção Primavera-Verão’, Culturgest, Lisbon (2023); ‘vis-à-vis’, CAV, Coimbra (2022); ‘Verão’, The Goma, Madrid (2020); ‘Ana Santos & Wolfgang Stoerchle’, Ampersand, Lisbon (2020); ‘Anátema’, MAAT, Lisbon (2019); ‘Timbre’, The Goma, Madrid (2018); ‘matryoshka’, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Porto (2017); Stanza, The Goma, Madrid (2015); Ana Santos, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon (2015); ‘Common denominator’, The Goma, Madrid (2013); ‘inverno’, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Porto (2013): ‘Loop’, Espaço Campanhã, Porto (2012); ‘Une image de fou’, Galeria Nuno Centeno, Porto (2012); ‘Trabalho’, Chiado 8 – Arte contemporânea, Lisbon (2012). Selected group exhibitions include ‘Hoje soube-me a pouco: Introversões e utopias artísticas no pós-25 de Abril’, MAAT, Lisboa (2024); ‘Ninguém. Só eu.’, Centro de Arte Oliva, S. João da Madeira (2022); ‘Les Péninsules démarrées’, Frac Nouvelle - Aquitaine MÉCA | Bordeaux (2022); ‘Itinerarios XXVII’, Fundación Botín, Madrid (2022); ‘Flora’, Atelier Museu Júlio Pomar, Lisbon (2021); ‘Um oásis ao entardecer’, MAAT, Lisbon (2020); ‘A Musa em Férias’, Casa-Museu Guerra Junqueiro, Porto (2019); ‘Coleção António Cachola - 10 Anos, 10 Artistas, 10 Comissões’, Chiado 8, Lisbon (2018); ‘Coleção Serralves: Aquisições recentes’, Museu de Serralves, Porto (2018); ‘10.000 Anos depois entre Vénus e Marte’, Galeria Municipal do Porto (2017).

Her work can be found in national and international collections such as Serralves Foundation, State Collection (CACE), Carmona e Costa Foundation, EDP Foundation Art Collection, Coleção Municipal de Arte do Porto, Coleção Municipal de Arte Contemporânea de Lisboa, Julião Sarmento Collection, Colección Navacerrada, Fundacion Barrié, Colección DKV, Ekard Collection, ArCo - Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual.