Et sic in infinitum

The Arpad Szenes – Vieira da Silva Foundation’s 2023 programming opens with José Pedro Croft’s Et sic in infinitum, an exhibition that is almost completely composed of works that were created over the past two troubled years and explore the complexity and manifold potentialities of the relationships between sculpture, drawing and engraving, techniques he employs to offer us an exciting exercise in aesthetic and interpretative freedom.

The opportunity to host this project, to which José Pedro Croft has deeply committed him- self, is a privilege for which I sincerely thank him, as well as one further step towards keeping the Foundation within the circuit of contemporary creation, by inviting its visitors to enjoy a stimulating dialogue between his works and the pieces by Vieira and Arpad. This provides a means for the continual renovation of our audiences, by attracting a younger crowd to which we offer a number of innovative pedagogic programmes.

Equally crucial to the quality of the present exhibition is the curatorial work of Sérgio Mah, who rose to the challenge posed by the features of our museological space and the exhibits’ di- versity, while also enriching this catalogue with an essay that is not only indispensable to the understanding of the work presented here, but also, in more general terms, of this artist’s cre- ative process.

This exhibition was made possible by our rich and consistent partnership with the Car- mona e Costa Foundation, whose support of Portuguese artists cannot be overpraised, and the personal commitment of its President, Maria da Graça Carmona e Costa, to whom we offer our deepest thanks.

I would also like to thank all who collaborated in this project, namely the staff of the two Foundations and the publisher of this catalogue, Manuel Rosa, as well as his publishing house, Documenta.

José Pedro Croft wishes to honour the memory of Bernardino Gomes, by dedicating this exhibition to him and including in it a precious work of his that once belonged to this figure. We ask him to join that tribute, in remembrance of a friend who was at the source of our Foun- dation and to whom we owe so much.

-António Gomes de Pinho (President of the Arpad Szenes-Vieira da Silva Foundation)