Scene4 Magazine | Qué Pasa

I was shocked and suddenly understood the amazing effect these sculptures possessed. I spent a lot of time studying each of the sculptures in the studio, really watching them one by one made me realize they were all alive. All asking to be seen, to be heard. They cannot move but they do have personality. I'm not sure if they can feel, but I could definitely feel them. At that moment, and one at a time, they started speaking to me. I could understand them. They felt restricted in such a small place, each one of them embodying the Whole Essence of a Woman. It was far too much for a single room, an overwhelming concert of emotions. Someone once said about these sculptures that they are stones that breathe. He was absolutely right. They don't only breath; they make you feel your own breath. But where does this enchantment comes from? How are these wonderful sculptures created? These were my thoughts as I walked out of the studio. I had to find out all about the process'.
Apart from the intellectual challenge, the process of creation always includes modeling. First in clay and then in plaster, the artist materializes his ideas and perfects it before commencing with the stone itself. Then comes the moment to choose the suitable marble block. Before starting to carve the marble, the artist has to decide how to use the patterns embedded in the stone in order to create the desired effect. After the intellectual creation, the carving phase separates the ordinary from the excellent. After many hours of watching the artist undertaking these processes - I still find myself asking ''Was it a chisel, or a magic wand that he is using?'' Francisco Simões at work is almost choreographic. The violence of the carving is often interrupted by interludes of deep serenity of focused observation. He severely hits the stone with a hammer and then majestically observes in a quietude amplified by the hammering noise. Always excited, he moves graciously around heavy marble blocks. Breaking, smashing stone with his chisel fired up with a hammer. It is violent work, both physically and intellectually. His work completely consumes him. His ideas drain from his mind, but his body relays the execution. He sweats, he smashes his own fingers, his back is sore at the end of each day. It is a long hard process that one can only appreciate on the completion of a sculpture.
Would you imagine this when you see the fine delicacy of these timeless pieces? Highly technical, yet somehow brutal. This extremely intense process implied in the creation of a sculpture is probably what allows the conceptual idea behind the creative effort to live beyond the stone, turning marble into sculptures that by breathing take our breath away. The coherence behind Francisco's long career is threefold: he pursues Beauty; he honours Women; always with Perfectionism. He releases women imprisoned in stone. He frees them from the rock allowing them to be seen, and more, he gives them a heart. Just take a good look at them, watch, and they'll speak to you as they've spoken to me. Each sculpture is a live representation, a tribute to Woman's greatness. Women are the beginning of life, they are Mothers, Sisters, Lovers - Women give Life. Francisco Simões' work is a testament to all women. This is the reason for their presence alongside Souren Mousavi' work. They believe in the same values of freedom, which both artists explore through the female figure.
As David Mourão-Ferreira said, Francisco's sculptures are poetry. Francisco 'writes' in stone what poets write on paper. Poets are in fact a great inspiration to Francisco and that gave birth to yet another public commission. The twenty most prolific Portuguese poets of the twentieth century are represented by sculptures in a 60 hectare park just outside Lisbon. Three meter plus height marble statues can be enjoyed in a public park devoted to poetry.
Francisco was born in Portugal in 1946 and his first exhibition was held in 1969. Since then he has never stopped working or exhibiting. Apart from sculpture and drawings, he has done many book covers and some illustrations too. He very recently started to do some experiments with ceramics as well. He has been a teacher and he advises the Portuguese government for cultural, educational end artistic matters. Francisco Simões is represented in London by Nausicaa Fine Arts. The handcraft nature of the sculptures means small production and the uniqueness of the pieces. This is the first time Simoes has exhibited publicly in London.
"It is with great pleasure that I accept the invitation of showing my work along with Souren Mousavi's, a live witness to the immoral brtality of todays disrespect for Human Rights. Mousavi's work mirrors the intensity of captivity, of the cruelty that in some parts of the world still persists today. Although still young, Mousavi's work is already full of intensity, emotion and bravery which as a teacher I always encouraged my students to follow. Mousavi's determination is to take her far, but mostly represents hope. It is a strong message, one that brings colour to darkness. As Mousavi's, my work highlights the Human Condition of Women. Their beauty, their fragility and their enourmous strength. I acknowledge her efforts in highlighting the defense of Human Rights, and as a man who also paid with jail the fight for Freedom I couldn't but support this initiative."