Francisco Vidal

Badiu Creole is a visual culmination of the three countries that encompass Vidal’s multi-layered identity, Angola, Cape Verde, and Portugal.

The present work by Vidal originated at the crossroads of the artist’s study of Creole with his study of the life and work of Angolan painter, Mestre Paulo Kapela. Kapela, often regarded as the patriarch of contemporary art in Angola, was renowned for his distinctive installations featuring square cardboard pieces adorned with political or societal imagery, each accompanied by script written in black paint or ink running parallel to the edges of the card. Badiu Creole is a perfect marriage of these influences. In the present lot, Vidal employs Kapela’s signature composition, using script from Fernando Pessoa’s Ode Martima, the translated text that Vidal used during his study of Creole.

At the centre of each 50 by 50 square are blue and white tiles reminiscent of the ones found throughout Portugal, telling the stories of the colonial nation. For Vidal, these tiles evoke the stories of oppressors and the oppressed. Throughout his practice, the artist explores the many unresolved questions surrounding Portugal’s history of slavery and the lack of accessible information for study. Influenced by Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" (1968), the present work embodies the statement by George Agostinho da Silva that "Freedom is the most important quality of the human being."

Born in 1978 to Cape Verdean and Angolan parents, Francisco Vidal lives and works between Lisbon and Luanda. The artist has also spent time in New York City where he earned his MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts. Using a former bomb factory as his studio, Vidal explores themes of colonialism (focusing on the relationship between Portugal and Angola), labour, war, violence, travel and the concept of an industrial revolution, which the artist believes is key for the advancement and prosperity of Angola.

Citing artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol amongst his influences, Vidal is known for creating large scale installations comprised of bold colours and gestures, exploring the act of repetition and, much like Warhol, aligns the creation of his work to that of manufacturing within the confines of his former factory.