Catarina Leitão
Systema Naturæ
Ends on April 21st
Carlos Carvalho Arte Contemporânea
R. Joly Braga Santos, Lote F – R/c • 1600-123 Lisboa
Tel: 217261831
Fax: 217261310
E-mail: carloscarvalho-ac@ carloscarvalho-ac.com
Website: www. carloscarvalho-ac.com
Monday – Friday: 10:00am – 7:30pm; Saturday: 12:00am – 07:30pm
Systema Naturæ , an installation/drawing project, is a fictional botanical study. The
title refers to Linnaeus’ book: Systema naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum
classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus differentiis, synonymis,
locis(System of nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes,
orders, genera and species, with characters, differences, synonyms, places), first
published in 1735. In the text, the author marks the starting point of consistent use
of binomial nomenclature, establishing a hierarchical classification of the natural
world.
In Catarina Leitão’s research, she creates and draws botanical species crossed with
mechanical and constructed shapes. Like hybrid plants, they allude to the
manipulation of the natural world. Using scientific drawings from different periods,
visits to herbaria, and botanical gardens, she composes a parallel fictional science.
Once her new species are invented, carefully and didactically depicted, she proceeds
to their taxonomic classification. This classification has been developed from the
study of taxonomical rules and traditional systems, which are based on the species’
external morphology.
Making use of Latin epithets that describe characteristics of genera and species,
Leitão transforms them, combining them with translated contemporary words, looking
for composites that create new meanings. The results are either absurd, ironic,
ambivalent, sometimes amusing, but always follow the rules of taxonomic nomenclature
and of the use of Botanical Latin. The species are then grouped in families which are
also newly named. For this investigation process, Leitão had the invaluable
assistance from the staff of the Department of Genetics and Botany of the Instituto
Superior de Agronomia, in Lisbon.
The installation exhibition Systema Naturæ, to open at Carlos Carvalho Arte
Contemporânea, on March 10, 2012, includes: Eight large watercolor drawings that
reference educational charts; Small drawings of each of the invented species,
displayed in furniture specifically built for them.
A sculptural piece: a Portable Museum, a box/crate on wheels filled with objects and
materials related to the whole exhibition. The Portable Museum could hold the entire
contents of the exhibition, addressing the ideas of portability and nomadism,
critical in Catarina Leitão’s artwork.
A book: Systema Naturæ; produced in collaboration with the writer José Roseira.
The book combines the drawings with a tangentially autobiographical fiction piece by
Roseira. The text materializes the ambiguous shapes found in Leitão’s drawing
practice, by purposely supplying more disruption: a contribution to the overall
confusion, blurring the boundaries between the natural world and the artificial, fact
and fiction.
The book is the first publication by Orbis Tertius Edições. Orbis Tertius Edições
is a publishing company that has been founded by Catarina Leitão and José Roseira, in
February 2012. The purpose of this enterprise is to continue publishing books that
create a dialog between the visual arts and literature.
Catarina Leitão
Estugarda, Alemanha, 1970. Vive e trabalha em Lisboa e Nova Iorque.
Stuttgart, Germany, 1970. Lives and works between Lisbon and New York.
Exposições individuais Solo shows (selecção selection)
Invasive Species (2011, Carpe Diem Arte e Pesquisa. Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal)
Flatland (2009, galeria Pedro Cera. Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal)
Thicket (2007, Number 35 gallery. Nova Iorque New York, Estados Unidos)
Natural Selection (2005, Michael Steinberg – Project Room. Nova Iorque New York,
Estados Unidos)
Catarina Leitão / Matthew Ronay (2003, Andrea Rosen gallery 2. Nova Iorque New York,
Estados Unidos)
Natureza Domesticada [Tamed Nature] (2002, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa
Lisbon, Portugal.
A.R.D. Artificial Retreat Devices (2001, Sintra Museu de Arte Moderna - Berardo
Collection, Sintra, Portugal)
Exposições colectivas (selecção)
Multiple, Limited, Unique: Selections from the Permanent Collection of the Center for
Book Arts (2011, Center for Book Arts, New York, and travelling accross the USA
through 2012)
Arqueologia do detalhe, (2011, comissariado por curated by Fátima Lambert, Casa das
Artes, Vigo, Spain)
Open Book: An International Survey of Experimental Books, (2010, Eastern Michigan
University, MI, USA)
Pretty Tough: Contemporary Storytelling, (2009, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum,
CT, USA)
We're all gonna die, (2009, comissariado por curated by Ron Keyson, Sue Scott
Gallery, New York)
Lá Fora, (curated by João Pinharanda, Museu da Electricidade, Lisbon, Portugal, 2009)
Center for Book Arts 2007 Artists in Residence Workspace, (2008, Center for Book
Arts, New York)
Point of View, (comissariado por curated by Miguel Amado, Museu da Cidade, Lisbon,
Portugal, 2007)
Four Degrees: Artistic Views on Climate Change, (2007, comissariado por curated by
Robert Sweeny, Kipp Gallery, Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
The Shape of Things to Come, (2007, comissariado por curated by Marco Antonini,
Redhead Space, New York)
50 Years of Portuguese Art, (2007, Calouste Gulbekian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal)
Anatomical Attitudes, (2007, comissariado por curated by Robin Reisenfeld, Heskin
Contemporary, New York)
En Masse, (2006, Heskin Contemporary, New York)
Prevailing Climate, (2006, comissariado por co-curated by Rachel Gugelberger and
Jeffrey Walkowiak, Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York)
Garden Improvement (comissariado por curated by Jennifer Mcgregor, Wavehill, Glyndor
Gallery and Grounds, New York)
501 Lexington, (comissariado por curated by Mckendree Kee, The Roger Smith Lab
Gallery, New York)
Options and Futures, (PLMJ Foundation Recent Acquisitions, comissariado por curated
by Miguel Amado, Arte Contempo, Lisbon, Portugal)
Naturalia, (comissariado por curated by Leonor Nazaré, Lagos Cultural Center, Lagos,
Portugal.
MNH, Leaves of Grass Pillow, (w/ Trong G. Nguyen’ project "HNH", Tenri Cultural
Institute, New York, NY)
Greater New York 2005, (2005, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York)
Relative Density, (comissariado por curated by Leonor Nazaré, Fundação C. Gulbenkian
Museum, Lisbon, Portugal)
Our World, (comissariado por curated by Julie Peppito, Broadway Gallery, New York)
Digressões sobre uma Urbanidade, (comissariado por curated by Miguel Von Hafe Perez,
VN Cerveira, Portugal)
Field: Science, Technology and Nature, (comissariado por curated by Alyson Baker
Socrates Sculpture Park, New York)
Freehand, (comissariado por curated by Rachel Gugelberger, Marvelli Lab, New York)