Nuno Carvalho's 'La materia del tiempo' at Galería Sergi Sánchez explores temporal decay through mixed-media objects

Portuguese artist Nuno Carvalho presents his solo exhibition 'La materia del tiempo. Entre pureza y corrosión' at Galería Sergi Sánchez in Barcelona until May 29. Born in Coímbra in 1978 and based in Barcelona since 2008, Carvalho works with cement, ceramic, wood, fabric, and plastic to transform everyday items into meditations on time's passage. His practice blurs distinctions between painting and sculpture, creating what he terms an archaeology of the present where ordinary objects gain symbolic weight. Specific works include a laptop sculpted from cement, a wooden chair with twisted legs resembling human limbs, and painted surfaces mimicking rusted metal. These pieces represent different phases of a cycle—from initial purity to extreme degradation. White fabrics and immaculate structures suggest beginnings, while details like the chair's distorted legs introduce imperfections that foreshadow transformation. Other objects, such as a spatula turned into paint or the cement computer, reflect accumulated wear and memory. Surfaces evoking corroded metal depict a final stage where material becomes nearly unrecognizable. Carvalho's exhibition frames time as an active force, with objects serving not merely as witnesses to the past but as fragments of an evolving reality. He invites viewers to observe how purity, use, and corrosion coexist within a single space, with each piece containing the seed of its own mutation.