In Praise of Shadow is the title of a famous book written by the Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaki. Published for the first time in 1933, the author criticizes de excess of light in the Occident and the exhibitionism of forms and colors. Later, a Jorge Luís Borges poetry book is given the same title. In the book, Borges tells us about how he became consciousness of his own shadow, and the shadow of his work, and how that shadow reflects himself. As he intimates in the poem:

“I live among vague and luminous forms that are not yet darkness. (…) This penumbra is slow and brings no pain; it flows down a gentle slope and resembles eternity.“

In Praise of Shadow is the fourth exhibition of Primner Gallery, that for the first time shows a Portuguese young artist, Pedro Léger Pereira. In this work we see the influence of Concrete and Neoconcrete art movements that had their largest expression in Brazil in the 50’s and the 60’s. It’s simple and concrete forms come from geometric forms. In this exhibition, all sculptures born after the manipulation of a circle. Being a visual artist and an architect, the artist introduces us to another dimension when he explores the eco of each artwork in the space throughout its shadows.

For Pedro Léger Pereira, the shadow works as an ephemeral piece, that keeps changing over the course of a day depending on the entrance of sunlight inside the gallery. In this work he goes beyond the incorporation of darkness; because he uses inox, the sculpture is also a mirror. He makes us remember Borges, when at the end of his life, he affirms that in the consciousness of his own shadow he finds his own reflection. As we admire its shadows, our own reflection on it and also the reflection of all the other artworks, we gain a consciousness of the totality of Pedro Leger Pereira’s sculptures.

The pieces showed in this exhibition work as an ensemble of sculptures from which the artist develops drawings. In these drawings he captures the shadows of the sculptures, this way materializing the shadow into a new artwork.

This exhibition can be seen in various dimensions: first in the tridimensional plan of the sculptures, that can be observed in many perspectives, second in the plan of the shadow of each sculpture; and third, the drawings on the walls that symbolize the materialization of ephemerality of each shadow.