Fernão Cruz

Skeleton without purpose
2021
On view

Gallery


Object details

Author(s)
Fernão Cruz (Lisbon, Portugal, 1995)
Title
Skeleton without purpose
Translated title
Skeleton without purpose
Date
2021
Materials and media
Bronze; Oil
Dimensions
Height 140,00 cm; Width 90,00 cm; Depth 125,00 cm
Inventory no.
21E1943

Incorporation

Type
Purchased
Place
Lisbon
Provenance
Fernão Cruz Unipessoal, Lda.
Intermediary
Leonor Nazaré
Date
November 2021

Text

Just like other works by Fernão Cruz that embrace dark humor and absurdity, ‘Skeleton for Nothing’ presents a shape resembling a rope, evoking a deformed and minimalist skeleton. The distorted proportions and collapsed posture suggest exhaustion.

Sculpted in bronze, a material traditionally associated with permanence and classical sculpture, the piece subverts that tradition by incorporating fragility and transience. Painted with oil paint, the structure suggests the outline of a vanished body. The two ends of the rope rise like shoulders, extending invisibly into arms that connect to a pair of gloves also sculpted in bronze and painted with oil, resting on the ground.

The contrast between the weight of the bronze and the delicacy of the form highlights the tension between material permanence and thematic impermanence. The sculpture can be read as a metaphor for the uselessness of structure, the fragility of existence, and even the finitude of art. It is a deeply poetic piece that invites reflection on what remains when everything else disappears.

 

Jamil Ramos
October 2025

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