Tiwani Contemporary is pleased to announce Workshop Maianga Mutamba, an exhibition of new works by Francisco Vidal and his first solo show in the UK.

Workshop Maianga Mutamba is derived from Vidal’s practical working methodology, which considers the notion of the artist as a machine and the studio as a workshop, and advocates machine-based mass production as the means of creating a better world. The exhibition focusses on Vidal’s machete paintings, an ongoing series in which he paints vividly coloured cotton flowers directly onto metal machetes similar to those traditionally used to harvest cotton plants. The series refers to the Baixa de Cassanje, a 1961 uprising led by the agricultural workers of a Portuguese-Belgian cotton plantation in Malanje that was violently suppressed by the Portuguese authorities. The event, which started as a workers’ protest for better working conditions, is now considered the first battle of the Angolan War of Independence, and forms the core of Vidal’s reflection around political dissent and the spirit of social revolution.

About Francisco Vidal

Francisco Vidal was born in Lisbon in 1978 and lives between Luanda and Lisbon. He is currently part of the official selection of the Angolan Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale and has been selected, with e-studio Luanda, for the Art Dubai 2016A.i.R. Dubai residency. Recent exhibitions include Freies Museum/Savvy Contemporary, Berlin (2015); Milan Expo (2015); Instituto Camões, Luanda (2014); UNAP, Luanda (2014); Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon (2011); EDP Foundation, Lisbon (2010); Lux, Lisbon (2010); and Instituto Camões in Cape Verde, Angola and Mozambique (2007). Francisco Vidal is represented by Tiwani Contemporary.

Exhibition continues until 19 December 2015
Tuesday to Friday 11am – 6pm and Saturday 12pm – 5pm
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