No. 3 / No. 13 is the title of one of Rothko's paintings. This title, as applied to the exhibition, has a sole intent that is to assert the show in the path of the appropriative gesture. This exhibition by Ana Cardoso defies notions of language appropriation, style and derivation by its own means. Matisse and Popova are revised and somehow linked by the artist. Constructions made with paintings are tried out in the gallery space as much as paintings become objects, parts or construction pieces. All paintings have two sides. Some act as screens. Some of the lamps that lighten the paintings are very close to them. The show gathers five general series: Meditation, Surprise, Taped, After... and Monochromes. Most of the paintings are made on sewed fabrics, joining different materials: linen, nylon, cotton, wool, silk, etc... Plus acrylic paints, with much gold and iridescent. Some think that the process, not the image, will reveal us something through what we see. Then the image is this fortune cookie, an abstract of possibilities.

The series Meditation addresses the idea of Buddhist emptiness. Surprise is a series that uses stripes as its main motif, as in wrapping paper. Taped mimics previous paintings tape debris. After… uses other people’s paintings and remakes them. Monochromes acts as an anthropomorphic punctuation.

No. 3/ No. 13 also includes a printed digital scan made with studio debris.
Painting is about painting.