Commonage is excited to present our second exhibition Cat did it!, a solo presentation by Hugo Brazão. The site-specific installation for Commonage is an investigation into themes of concealment, deception and escapism to explore the similarities between zoological and human behaviours. Brazão explores various forms of communication through signifiers and symbols, abstract and familiar.

The exhibition draws on research around Hanabiko or Koko, a female Gorilla who allegedly communicated through a form of sign language and could mimic her human counterpoints. Specifically referenced is one instance where Koko breaks a sink and is said to have blamed her cat. With sculptures and a large-scale textile work, that suggests maps of both landscapes and bodies, Brazão plays with open narratives through anthropological inquiry, symbolism and humour. The installation becomes a metaphor for how we may attempt to absolve ourselves physically and metaphysically.

For all enquires please email info@commonageprojects.com 

Exhibition Review: Umbigo Magazine

Hugo Brazão (1989, Madeira) lives and works in London. His artistic practice covers painting, sculpture and textile and develops around the fiction/reality paradox, reimagining the material found within his research and finding its technical possibilities and different narratives that can be created around it. Brazão was awarded the VIA Arts Prize in 2018 in London, the Helen Scott Lidgett Studio Award in 2015 and participates regularly in international art residencies. He completed an MA in Fine Arts at Central Saint Martins (London, 2015) and a BA in Painting at Faculdade de Belas-Artes de Lisboa (2013). Recent solo exhibitions include: Out of sight, out of mind (2020) at Balcony Gallery in Lisbon; Best foot backwards (2019) at Sala Brasil in London; TAKE TEN (2019) at the Las Palmas project space; and group exhibitions in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain and Italy.