Dating from 1971, Untitled is part of a cycle of Pop-inspired figurative works that Teresa Magalhães conceived during a short period of her career, before opting for signal and chromatic research of various meanings. It is a captivating piece, thanks to its colours and to the image of an amorous idyll suspended in space: a couple, walking in an embrace, seems to follow its common path, unaware of the artist’s, and of the viewer’s, gaze. Hidden references to physiognomy enable us to wonder on the real identity of the subjects, while the care that evidently went into the depiction of clothes and details (knee-high boots, purse, hat, jacket with an ice cream motif, coat…) and to the dynamic movement suggest independent, emancipated youth (it is the woman who embraces the man, and both are placed in the same virtual action plan), watchful of the temporary values of fashion, to the style trends of by-gone era.

Untitled was presented to the 1st National Biennial of New Artists, organised by the Cupertino de Miranda Foundation, in 1972. It is a double-face artwork, conceived at the image of a moveable signage panel, featuring, on the front, painting and pasted papers on cut hardboard and attached to a stand by two metal rods. The textures of the pasted papers compete to thicken the visual effects of the material, of the simulated cloth, as well as of the sensuality and the movement that emanate from the figures. But the simultaneously flat and rigid character of the media contributes to remove this scene from reality, reducing the characters to the condition of puppets, similar to childhood’s paper dolls, actors in an imaginary play. 

AFC

November 2011