Lehmann gallery is pleased to present Law of the Land, the second solo exhibition by artist João Vasco Paiva (1979, Coimbra, Portugal) at the gallery.

The original text by Ricardo Escarduça, which accompanies the exhibition, offers valuable insight—above all—into João Vasco Paiva’s working methods and the ways in which he interrogates the nature and materiality of his practice. Escarduça proposes an approach to the artist’s work through the concept of “subtraction,” understood both as the act of removing elements to avoid the obvious (“semiotic notoriety”) and as an exploration of the unknown (“auscultating” the potential of matter). These two dimensions converge in a singular way of relating to the world—one that simultaneously draws the artist closer to, and distances him from, his surroundings, always leaving something yet to be discovered.

Regarding Law of the Land, Escarduça observes that the artist focuses on “instruments”—ranging from simple natural objects to complex human-made creations—where subtraction becomes a mode of creation by opening new paths through what is hidden. He further notes that João Vasco Paiva’s work questions the boundary between the natural and the artificial, reminding us of the existence of a “second nature,” as evoked by the Roman poet Lucretius. According to Lucretius, agriculture gave rise to gestures such as plowing and sowing, which became so deeply ingrained that they now appear as natural as humanity’s original, innate nature. In this way, a paradox emerges concerning the notion of purity and the existence of a primordial nature.

As an illustration of the above, Escarduça invites us to delve into Law of the Land, where João Vasco Paiva, employing techniques such as hydrodynamics and aerodynamics, transforms manuals—whether for agricultural, urban, or anti-seismic tools—into sculptures, watercolors, and pieces that evolve from the simple to the complex. Through this process, he demonstrates that creation is, above all, a means of thinking through problems, not offering solutions. And it is precisely in this ongoing inquiry that the essence of his art resides.