A banquet, an odyssey

«…The exhibition "Ma mort sera petite, comme moi" is a celebration of life, of desire, of pleasure. We can view it as a banquet, an odyssey.
Sebastião Casanova’s paintings bring with them the odour of oil paints and the aroma of the meals that gave rise to them. We sense the scent of a stew, the flavour of a grilled lobster, the memory of a plate of mussels, savoured with an Alvarinho wine. Family scenes, meetings with friends, nights of revelry: the narrative that emerges from this exhibition is related to a bohemian existence, where the theme of community takes centre stage. The artist is part of the group of artists of Caldas da Rainha, a city where the most stimulating art scene in Portugal has emerged over recent decades.
There is also a significant existential dimension t Sebastião Casanova's work: the reflection that he proposes to us is about ends – of life, art and time - synthesised in the concept of epoché, found in Edmund Husserl's phenomenological philosophy. The "presupposition less" philosophy of Husserl and modernist painting, aims to search for a more authentic experience of reality. Both the philosopher and modern art, challenge conventional ways of seeing and interpreting, proposing a rupture with mental and aesthetic habits. While Husserl suspends judgements in order to reach the philosophical essence, modern artists have suspended traditional techniques in order to reveal new possibilities for expression.
Sebastião Casanova is an heir to an absolutely modern cultural lineage. In his work I discern points of contact with Pierre Bonnard (the table), Cézanne (still lifes), Morandi (idem), Broodthaers (the mussels), Daniel Spoerri (frozen meals) and Rirkrit Tiravanija (relational aesthetics). In our conversations, the artist mentioned other influences, above all from the fields of photography - Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall, Catherine Opie, Philip-Lorca diCorcia - and cinema - Peter Greenaway, Sergio Leone, Paolo Sorrentino, Luis Buñuel or the opening scene of Enzo Barboni’s “They Call Me Trinity” (1970), in which the gunfighter gulps down a huge plate of beans, accompanied by a large chunk of bread, straight from the frying pan.
Sebastião Casanova's paintings are food for thought – as a critique of the haute bourgeoisie, of the grotesque dimension of reality and of the social landscape.
His painting prefers to drift rather than stay in the living room. Everything is resolved in the kitchen. Around a plate of lentils or a prawn açorda (bread-based stew)…»

Óscar Faria