Independent Collectors

Near Fields

Seeing art as "a visionary, global language", Portuguese brothers Manuel and Miguel Leal Rios have devoted themselves to building their collection.

Installation view from "Near Fields", 2017 at Leal Rios Foundation. Artwork reflected on DANIEL STEEGMANN MANGRANÉ, Ramita Partita, 2016. © Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
Installation view from "Near Fields", 2017 at Leal Rios Foundation. Artwork reflected on DANIEL STEEGMANN MANGRANÉ, Ramita Partita, 2016. © Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho

With Miguel Leal Rios acting as the curator for the collection, the two brothers decided to open the Leal Rios Foundation up to the public in 2012, using a 1 000-sqaure-meter former auto repair shop as its space. Located just south of Lisbon’s airport the collection presents works of all genres of contemporary art in temporary, themed exhibitions every year.

In addition to national artists such as Helena Almeida, Francico Tropa, Julião Sarmento or João Penalva the collection also inludes internationally recognized names such as Erwin Wurm, Matt Mullican, Lawrence Weiner, Anthony McCall, John Baldessari, Becky Beasley and Allan Sekula, as well as regularly devoting the exhibition space to presentations centered on design.

Until April 7th 2018 the Leal Rios Foundation will be presenting “Near Fields”, an exhibition made up exclusively of works from the private collection, featuring the artists João Paulo Feliciano, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Anthony McCall, Tristan Perich, Pedro Diniz Reis, Scott Short, Rui Toscano and Jorinde Voigt.

Here, we present artworks and installation views from the exhibition “Near Fields” at the Leal Rios Foundation.

SCOTT SHORT, Untitled (green negative), 2010. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation. Photo: João Biscainho
SCOTT SHORT, Untitled (green negative), 2010. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation. Photo: João Biscainho

Since the invention of wireless communication, like the telegraph or the photo phone, in the late 19th century, humans have been trying to expand their senses with artificial and mass-produced devices. Vision, hearing, voice and writing gained extensions such as radio, television, the telephone and, more recently, the Internet. This flux of information and processing obeys to a system of code, transmission, decoding, reception, etc. This flow of information is not naturally intelligible: without the right instruments to extract, separate and decode them, they are nothing but noise to our senses. With this reality in mind, Near Fields brings together a selection of works of art that overlap multiple media and project certain modes of action in the mental and in the exhibition space, presenting themselves as a play of forces that invites the viewer to interact with them at different levels of proximity, scale, position, or movement.

IN "NEAR FIELDS", JOÃO BISCAINHO, APRIL 2017

TRISTAN PERICH, Machine Drawing 2017-05-17 9:00 AM, 2017 (work on development on 23 May 2017). Courtesy àngels barcelona, Spain. Photo: João Biscainho
TRISTAN PERICH, Machine Drawing 2017-05-17 9:00 AM, 2017 (work on development on 23 May 2017). Courtesy àngels barcelona, Spain. Photo: João Biscainho
TRISTAN PERICH, Machine Drawing 2017-05-17 9:00 AM, 2017 (work on development on 29 June 2017). Courtesy àngels barcelona, Spain. Photo: João Biscainho
TRISTAN PERICH, Machine Drawing 2017-05-17 9:00 AM, 2017 (work on development on 29 June 2017). Courtesy àngels barcelona, Spain. Photo: João Biscainho
TRISTAN PERICH, Machine Drawing 2017-05-17 9:00 AM, 2017 (detail). Courtesy àngels barcelona, Spain. Photo: João Biscainho
TRISTAN PERICH, Machine Drawing 2017-05-17 9:00 AM, 2017 (detail). Courtesy àngels barcelona, Spain. Photo: João Biscainho
RUI TOSCANO, To The Mountain Top, 2004. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
RUI TOSCANO, To The Mountain Top, 2004. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
Installation view of "Near Fields", 2017 at Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. © Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
Installation view of "Near Fields", 2017 at Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. © Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
ANTHONY MCCALL, Landscape for White Squares, 1972. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
ANTHONY MCCALL, Landscape for White Squares, 1972. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
ANTHONY MCCALL, Landscape for White Squares, 1972 (film still). © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
ANTHONY MCCALL, Landscape for White Squares, 1972 (film still). © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
RUI TOSCANO, Messier 5 (NGC 5904), 2009-2010. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
RUI TOSCANO, Messier 5 (NGC 5904), 2009-2010. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
Installation view from "Near Fields", 2017 at Leal Rios Foundation. Artwork reflected on DANIEL STEEGMANN MANGRANÉ, Ramita Partita, 2016. © Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
Installation view from "Near Fields", 2017 at Leal Rios Foundation. Artwork reflected on DANIEL STEEGMANN MANGRANÉ, Ramita Partita, 2016. © Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
DANIEL STEEGMANN MANGRANÉ, Ramita Partita, 2016. © the artist and Galeria Múrias Centeno, Porto. Photo: João Biscainho
DANIEL STEEGMANN MANGRANÉ, Ramita Partita, 2016. © the artist and Galeria Múrias Centeno, Porto. Photo: João Biscainho
TRISTAN PERICH, Octave, 2015. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
TRISTAN PERICH, Octave, 2015. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
JOÃO PAULO FELICIANO, White Dust/Rusted Strings, 1992 (detail). © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
JOÃO PAULO FELICIANO, White Dust/Rusted Strings, 1992 (detail). © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
JOÃO PAULO FELICIANO, White Dust /Rusted Strings, 1992 (detail). © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
JOÃO PAULO FELICIANO, White Dust /Rusted Strings, 1992 (detail). © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
JORINDE VOIGT, Stochastic Storms I + II, 2008-2010 (detail). © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
JORINDE VOIGT, Stochastic Storms I + II, 2008-2010 (detail). © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
Installation view from "Near Fields", 2017 at Leal Rios Foundation. (l–r) JORINDE VOIGT, Stochastic Storms I + II, 2008-2010; JOÃO PAULO FELICIANO, White Dust /Rusted Strings, 1992. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
Installation view from "Near Fields", 2017 at Leal Rios Foundation. (l–r) JORINDE VOIGT, Stochastic Storms I + II, 2008-2010; JOÃO PAULO FELICIANO, White Dust /Rusted Strings, 1992. © the artist and Leal Rios Foundation, Lisbon. Photo: João Biscainho
PEDRO DINIZ REIS, Zaubbergesang zur Krankenheilung (Songs Of Magic to Heal Sickness), 2013. Courtesy the artist
PEDRO DINIZ REIS, Zaubbergesang zur Krankenheilung (Songs Of Magic to Heal Sickness), 2013. Courtesy the artist
PEDRO DINIZ REIS, Zaubbergesang zur Krankenheilung (Songs Of Magic to Heal Sickness), 2013 (film still). Courtesy the artist
PEDRO DINIZ REIS, Zaubbergesang zur Krankenheilung (Songs Of Magic to Heal Sickness), 2013 (film still). Courtesy the artist

The Leal Rios Foundation is featured in the Art Guide.