Elephant vs. Rhinoceros, 2017
a project developed in the scope of the Underdogs Artist Residency Programme, Lisbon (PT)
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graphite, charcoal and soft pastel on paper
"On 3rd June 1515, King Manuel I arranged a public fight in Lisbon between one of the elephants in his collection of exotic animals and a rhinoceros that had just arrived from India.
It is precisely this encounter – which was as unusual as it was exotic, as poetic as it was tragic – that Teresa Esgaio has challenged herself to reproduce at Underdogs in the form of a visual enactment in progress. She intends to carry out here a detailed, delicate work with recourse to soft pastel and graphite powder, reproducing the intricate textures and individual nuances of each animal with the aim of portraying the encounter between the two animals in life-size."
Rhinoceros, Soft pastel on paper, 390 x 220cm, 2018
Elephant, Soft pastel on paper, 390 x 300cm, 2017
Film by Ana Pires
Photographs by César Reis