Physical Culture: Porto Edition

Galeria Municipal do Porto presents the work of Lithuanian artist Augustas Serapinas (1990, Vilnius) for the first time in Portugal. Physical Culture: Porto Edition explores a range of intersections between the history of art and the history of the representation of the body. It pays particular attention to repetition as a discipline and methodology, both for producing the classical forms of western art and for shaping the body through physical exercise. The exhibition is activated by its use as a space for both academic training — traditionally centred around drawing from classical sculpture — and physical training, as when visitors interact with the installation as a gym. At various points during the exhibition, there will be moments when local groups and visitors are invited to take part in bodybuilding and fitness activities or in drawing classes. The Porto edition is the first time that Physical Culture focusses exclusively on the place it is being shown. It features more than sixty replicas from the sculpture collection at Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis, including the iconic work The Exiled, which here take the place of the counterweights on bodybuilding machines.

Photography: Renato Cruz Santos