The work begins

Unbelievably, both artists are at the museum now. Jim Minor, who is in charge of the facilities here at NMAfA, picked them up at 8:30 this morning and they came and began work straight away. A few months back Aimé had been able to send the museum mock-ups of how he wanted the wall he shared with António to look. He and António had met in Portugal in August so that they could discuss the exhibition and the space they shared. Both artists came to an agreement as to how to how to construct the wall they shared, and so with both artists’ blessing and a schematic diagram from Aimé, Andy Sutton – NMAfA’s painter – was able to prepare the wall in advance of the artist’s arrival. Since we do not know what delays the Inauguration or other challenges may pose, this advance preparation feels comforting.

When the artists arrived this morning, António went straight to work on his the “totems” for his “Allegories of Construction II” – the sculptural piece which will appear at the base of the stairs. He has been splitting his time between finalizing the painting of the surface of the totems and laying out the materials for “Allegories of Construction I” – the wall assemblage he is creating in the gallery in response to Aimé’s work. For his “totems,” he has chosen bright, vibrant yellows, oranges, blue, and green to express what he is referring to as his current optimism. Rather than working with subdued, natural pigments and exploring the beauty of crumbling, decaying things, he is celebrating the building of a new future. The colors and constructive materials of Luanda’s new buildings and changing skylines seem to be informing this work. He also says that he wants his palette to engage with the of Aimé’s wall, which makes sense as the artists are creating these two façades in response to one another. Aimé is using a similarly bold palette, but his is inspired by a particular wall in Kinshasa, found in the Massina district. It is a wall that the artist walks past on his way to his studio and he says it makes him happy: in a city that is grey and dusty; the colors stand out. I am not sure how far the artists will get this afternoon, however, as this afternoon both Aimé and António are going to get Smithsonian identity badges so that they can get around the museum without escort. Aimé was also hoping to project an image of the text he wants to paint onto his wall but the battery in his computer is dead and he forgot the power cord, so he will be taking his first metro ride back to the hotel with his translator extraordinaire, Xavier Courouble, to pick up the power cable.