Gonçalo Van Zeller

(Portuguese -  Lisbon, 1963)

At the gates of Madragoa - Unpublished drawings

21 July - 13 August 2022

“Path, not of lips but shadows
over the root of the pencil over the wrist
whether path or not
in the circle
of steps
and such is the phrasing of the path
or the lucidity of the arm”

António Ramos Rosa


The goal of artist, according to Vasari, was to accomplish two modes of composition (componimenti): the visual arrangement of forms (componimenti d’arte), and an inventive story (componimenti d’istorie). In both cases two components are present: that of the invenzione, or the way the intellect conceives the visual arrangement of forms, and the disegno, the practical fashion after which the artist manifests their invenzione in that same visual arrangement
To quote Vasari in 2022 may seem a sort of academia curio. After all, are we not aware of the outstanding freedom today of the creation of forms, themes, communication strategies, image circulation and whatnot? However, regardless of the disciplinary speciality at stake, or even the circumstance at hand, we want to believe that Vasari is still right, or will always be right, when he speaks of drawing as the “father” of the arts (undoubtedly more atomized today than in the 16th century). Moreover, as we face the practice and approach of Gonçalo van Zeller to art-making, we sense a very specific admiration towards a venerable, ancient Western tradition founded in the Renaissance, and which allow us to regard his output as that of a true polymath.
The drawings that Gonçalo van Zeller purposefully and specifically created for Às portas da Madragoa (translatable both as “At the” and “To the doors of Madragoa”) were created as a response to the desire of reinforcing the bonds with the local community to which we both belong, that is, Tinta nos Nervos itself and the artist. Although Tinta is a bookstore and gallery attentively open to international works and artists, we exist in Madragoa, one of the most folksy, traditional bairros of Lisbon. And van Zeller’s studio is also in these streets. These drawings are then the result of a research, a jaunt, a questioning but also a transformation (invenzione) of the streets, the houses, the people of Madragoa.
As the drawings are reshuffled as a series, they function as a story, even though as opened as they can be to each individual onlooker. But they are also singular, self-reliant, and not less inviting to interpretation.
In the last few years, “to close doors” has gained a specific meaning. We ourselves had to it, twice. Now is a time of return and reinvigoration. These doors, through their own invenzione, will always be open.

Gonçalo Van Zeller

(Portuguese - Lisboa, 1963)

He studied as a young man at Saint Julian's School. With a master's degree in Artistic Anatomy from FBAUL, where he also specialised in drawing, he went on to study at IADE, with further training in design and multimedia.

Working with photography, sculpture, illustration, painting, design, art direction and many other disciplines since the mid-1980s, and founding his own companies, it is in drawing that he finds his basis for work, departure and thought. As he says, ‘to draw is to understand’.

Here are some of the awards he has won:

2012 – Arte e Olimpiadas
2011 – Ordem dos Advogados
2004 – LIA - London awards
2003 – Épica awards – Paris
2002 – Cannes Lions
2001 – Communication Arts - Londres
2000 – Cannes Lions
1999 – New York Festivals
1998 – Golden Awards of Montreaux

He has taken part in numerous group and solo exhibitions, with the most diverse productions of his career.

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