Francisco Trêpa. Gall Ball

Francisco Trêpa's (Lisbon, 1995) artistic practice explores the interconnections between life forms, metamorphosis, and hybridism. Gall Ball is inspired by the observation of galls found in CAM's Garden, where the artist first encountered these biological reactions resulting from interactions between plants (such as oaks) and external agents (such as wasps). The effect is a swelling growth on the outside of the plant, providing nutrition and shelter to induce insects.

Trêpa's fascination stems from the way galls dissolve the tension between interior and exterior, host and parasite, autonomy and symbiosis. Far from being mere defensive reactions, they represent spaces of transformation and biological empathy – microcosms in which the plant, without apparent direct benefit, hosts the presence of the other. In this gesture of natural hospitality, the artist sees a possible inversion of survivalist logic, pointing instead to cooperation as a vital force in life-affected relationships.

The 'ball' in the title points to a general rehearsal performed by Trêpa's constellation of ceramic sculptures. The gallery is understood as an extension of the studio, with a space dedicated to production where the artist will be creating and finishing works. The process of physical and chemical transformation through which clay gives way to ceramics is made visible in the sculptures presented at different stages of the process: raw, unglazed, uncoloured, and finished. Over the course of the exhibition, these forms reveal distinct moments of this crystallization, thus manifesting a body in continuous transmutation until it reaches its irreversible condition.

'Gall Ball' serves as the prologue to 'Institution(ing)s' and is developed within the framework of the protocol between CAM and the international academic programme The Lisbon Consortium (MA and PhD in Culture Studies) at the Faculty of Human Sciences, Universidade Católica Portuguesa. The curatorial team comprises students from the Curatorial Practices course in the MA in Culture Studies.

'Gall Ball' includes an associated programme that includes visits, workshops, and other activities.

Bio

Francisco Trêpa (1995) is a Portuguese artist living in Lisbon. He studied ceramics at António Arroio Artistic School (2013), holds a degree in Sculpture (2017) and a Master's in Multimedia Art (2022) from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon. Since 2015, he has exhibited nationally and internationally in various galleries and institutions. His work is included in the Antonio Cachola Collection (MACE), the PLMJ Foundation Collection, and several private collections. In 2024, he was named a finalist for the EDP Foundation's New Artists Award. That same year, he won the Grand Prize of the Sovereign Portuguese Art Prize.

Francisco Trêpa's practice investigates symbiotic relationships that sustain ecological, existential, and affective systems, using a variety of materials to create sculptures that explore, and ultimately embody, concepts such as transmutability and hybridism. His most recent body of work creates a meta-universe inspired by the plant world, the ties and crosses between plants and animals, such as pollination, conjuring the complex relationships between non-human animals and the impression of humanity in the Anthropocene. Over the past two years, the “main actors” of this meta-universe have been fictional, genderless characters who tell us their stories and attempt to escape the categories of our world.

www.franciscotrepa.com

Exhibition

Artistic direction

Luísa Santos

Curators and authors of the texts

César Sarno
Daniel Guedes
Lorena Vest
Olga Rogova
Triniti Goldsmith
(students of the MA in Culture Studies, The Lisbon Consortium, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Universidade Católica Portuguesa)

Curators for the public programme

Leonor Lisboa
Carlotta Ceraudo
Csenge Bognár
Sofia Talami
Antonina Stanczuk-Sturgólewska
(students of the MA in Culture Studies, The Lisbon Consortium, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Universidade Católica Portuguesa)

Coordination

Rita Albergaria

Production

Maria João Teixeira

Museography

Laurindo Marta

Illumination

Francisco Pinto
João Pedro Pessanha

Communication

Patrícia Rosas
Catarina Andrade
Maria Eduarda Duarte (Institution(ing)s)

Creative direction

A Practice for Everyday Life

Graphic design

Estúdio Vilhão
Ana Lopes

Coordinating institution

Universidade Católica Portuguesa

Partners

International academic programme The Lisbon Consortium (MA and PhD in Culture Studies) at the Faculty of Human Sciences, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.

This project will include a publication, which is being produced within the framework of Institution(ing)s

PUBLICATION

Editorial Coordination

Luísa Santos

Texts

Ana Botella
Benjamin Weil
Cesar Sarno
Daniel Guedes
Lorena Vest
Luísa Santos
Olga Rogova
Triniti Goldsmith

Graphic Design

vivóeusébio

Francisco Trêpa is represented by Galeria FOCO