“The place where human presence unfolds is a landscape in motion, in constant transformation.” The quotation is by Jonathan Uliel Saldanha, one of the most significant contemporary multidisciplinary Portuguese artists, and it is precisely with his exhibition Locus Amoenus, Locus Horribilis that Solar – Cinematic Art Gallery concludes its annual programme of activities. A creator of sonic and scenic architectures, Jonathan Uliel Saldanha works within systems in which pre-language and crystallisation, animism and echo, shift between light, sound, space, and gesture. His works emerge from the unique, almost mystical and always surprising combination of artistic fields such as music, performance, and video. Based in Porto, he projects his practice internationally, participating individually or collectively in exhibitions, cycles, and festivals dedicated to the performing arts, music, and even the visual arts.

In Locus Amoenus, Locus Horribilis, selected excerpts from the filmic experiments developed by Jonathan Uliel Saldanha in recent years are presented. These materials were digitally processed through multiple stages and layers, exploring unusual environments such as an aphasic, dismembered courtroom — a site of inquiry into a static and absent object. In the artist’s words: “This Locus Horribilis is also a ‘black box’, an opaque system/oracle through which one enters and exits, but with indecipherable premises mediated by its effect. An opaque volume whose protocol allows one to look at the accident, a precise coordinate for its outline.”