Vitor Reis: These works relate to some popular Portuguese native customs. The aim is to appropriate those customs and refresh them by creating new relations. Those new relations intend to create experiences and criticism of our present time.
Mountain, 2012, White clay, glaze and wood, 30 x 18 x 15 cm.
This work is based in the traditional representation of the Caldas da Rainha phallus. The piece is composed of many little representations of crammed phalluses. In a first look, they look like candies, but after a closer look the shapes start to define themselves.
Mangericús, 2014, White clay, glaze and paper with poems, 10 x 6 x 6 cm.
This work is particularly difficult to describe because it is very connected to the Portuguese language itself and acts almost like a “private joke”. Mangerico it is a very typical Portuguese plant, always present in folk celebrations. But when I named it “Mangericú”, it became similar to “ass” — and that’s where it all starts. Also, the poems in each piece are about the same subject.
Monster dick, 2012, Refractory folder and glaze, 20 x 10 x 7 cm.
This work mixes the local representation of the phallus, with one of the most popular international and local legends: the Loch Ness Monster. The joke is that, similar to the Irish legend, this Portuguese phallus portrayal, still hides and emerges once in a while, but still, has never been something totally visible or accepted by the people.
Ghost, 2013, White clay and glaze, 30 x 20 x 18 cm.
This work has departed from the idea that before “1974 Portuguese revolution”, the local representations of phalluses were presented for customers in the traditional market covered with a piece of fabric. The intention was to hide the real object and to not hurt susceptibilities. The aim of this work is to remember this thought and attitude, revealing the old-fashioned mentality that still exists in Portugal.
Portuguese cock, 2013, Red clay and glaze, 13 x 10 x 8 cm.
I suppose everybody knows the Portuguese icon “Galo de Barcelos” — a beautiful cock with feathers, a strong head and crest. Because the lately weak and difficult Portuguese political and social situation, I had represented the Portuguese cock as a chicken, without feathers and with no head.
