article
Under the planetary influences: Halo – Rings of Saturn at Tereza Seabra gallery
The Halo – Rings of Saturn exhibition series at the Tereza Seabra gallery, in Lisbon, follows an astrological calendar for the whole horoscope year. It started in March under the influence of planet Mars in Aries and ends next March with Neptune in Pisces. Probably, there is no other gallery where the showing artists share the same zodiac sign and have birthdays during the shows or openings. Each show opens on Saturday closest to the rising sign. This show cycle is guided by the planets and seems to form a celestial “halo” around the Tereza Seabra gallery.
Each month brings a new exhibition with four to six new artists. The curators Catarina Silva and Marta Costa Reis chose artists based on their zodiac signs and on their interest in the topic. “We wanted to see if artists reflect on astrology in some way,” said Costa Reis. Artists have been sourcing inspiration from horoscopes for thousands of years. “Even if people don’t relate to horoscopes, they still know their sign,” said Silva. “The symbols, elements and planets of horoscopes have a strong presence in western society and art history, “ said Costa Reis.
The symbols are found from Ancient Greek artists to Botticelli to the works of today. The psychological archetypes and the spiritual sense of connection to something larger than oneself is capturing. Especially in troubled times. Astrology offers a rich world of symbols. The water, fire, earth and air elements are relatable; the animals of horoscopes have human characteristics. The planets are mysterious and dreamy. The rings of Saturn are believed to be made of remnants of comets, asteroids or shattered moons – stardust. Tereza Seabra gallery has opened its doors to the mystical skies with HALO.
Tereza Seabra, as an artist, uses that sort of mystical, ritualistic approach in her work, so it’s only fitting that her gallery follows her trace. What makes matters more unique is that this time she is not taking part in curation but was one of the artists presented in the Virgo show. For the year ahead, the gallery hadn’t planned much, so Costa Reis and Silva proposed the HALO project. “The HALO is a curation project, a trial project, to see how things work. If all goes well, we will continue, “ said Silva, who has been working in the gallery for 12 years. Silva brought with her a steady exhibition program and together with Seabra, they have curated countless shows in the gallery.
Tereza Seabra, the artist, gallerist and collector was instrumental to the birth of contemporary jewelry in Portugal. She studied jewelry in New York and Hamburg and brought that new understanding and knowledge to her country. Just three years after the end of the dictatorship in 1978, she was invited to open a jewelry department in Ar.Co, an art school dedicated to broadening the local art world. “At that time, there was a primitive understanding of jewelry in Portugal,” said Seabra. The dictatorship had made sure that people were uneducated, the level of illiteracy in the country was highest in Europe, about 40% of the population didn’t know how to read or write. The seeds of contemporary jewelry were sown in Lisbon all the while.
Seabra remained the head of the jewelry department for 26 years. Paula Crespo from Reverso gallery, who studied in Ar.co in the 80s, said that the most important thing that Seabra brought to the field was the outside influences. “Especially the visiting international jewelry artists in Ar.co who gave workshops and lectures,” said Crespo. The other important quality that Crespo pointed on is that Tereza Seabra offers freedom to people around her to grow. The Portuguese jewelry scene has made huge steps from where it started to be where it is today. “Evolution has been notorious, from exploration of new materials to different ways of working,” said Seabra. Seabra thinks that, today, the Portuguese jewelry artists are at the same level as international ones.
Before the Tereza Seabra gallery, there was Artefacto3 run by Tereza Seabra, Alexandra de Serpa Pimentel and Paula Crespo. The trio worked together for 11 years. Today, Tereza Seabra gallery stands on the same ground and Paula Crespo has made her own beloved Reverso. Crespo remembers a show in Artefacto3, where she had an idea to invite visual artists to make jewelry. It seems that since then, the mingling of media has become a tradition in the local jewelry scene. The HALO show cycle is no different in this, curators have invited many artists outside the field.
“Artists speak the same language but express it in different media; we must mix the field,” said Costa Reis. Visual artists have enjoyed the opportunity to experiment and although there was no requirement to make jewelry, many have. Curators have offered to help with the technical side of jewelry. Francisca Carvalho, who embroiders and makes natural dyed textiles, has made huge textile neckpieces. “They are like blankets, like shields to protect,” said Silva, who noticed the protection and sculpturality in the whole Cancer exhibition.
The Aries sign brought works that were somehow rough and primal, almost ritualistic. “Like something was beginning,” said Costa Reis. For example Tamia Dellinger’s neckpieces with cut and carved dolomite look prehistoric. She colored the dolomite with dragon blood tree resin, a highly valued folk remedy with mythical qualities. Its price used to be higher than gold. Dragon blood trees inhabit the island of Madeira, where Dellinger is from. The resin seeps out of the wounds in the trees.
The Leo exhibition presented the tough pierced jade by Hansel Tai, scales made of egg membranes by Alejandra Escobar, crystal, silicone, bronze and pure gold. Nedda El-Asmar made 24-karat gold spheres from loaned gold. She didn’t use any solder for making the works “for gold likes itself” said El-Asmar. Pure gold sticks together with heat and with pressing. Her works are so delicate that a tight hug will mull them; they call for interaction at the right distance.
The dual nature of the sign in the Gemini exhibition was present in all the works. Three out of the four artists chose to work with porcelain.“The works appear strong but are also fragile, like geminis who are open, charismatic people and at the end also very fragile,” said Costa Reis. The hardest to find jewelry artists were Scorpios. The most presented ones were Capricorns, the sign of Catarina Silva and Libras, the sign of Marta Costa Reis. The curators will also take part in exhibitions as artists.
The set up of the exhibitions and openings are focused on the theme of the shows and are happenings in themselves. Artist and chef Alejandra Escobar prepares menu and cocktails for the openings with characteristics of each zodiac sign in mind. The dominant taste for the first opening – The Aries was fire. “That sign is the first sign of the horoscope and the first fire sign – so everything was spicy,” said Escobar. For the water sign Cancer, she served seaweed on shells and for pleasure-loving Taurus, ruled by Venus, she brought chocolate and mild aphrodisiacs to the table.
The specific energy of the ruling sign has been present in all the shows. Although the artists haven’t previously worked together, nor is everyone’s work based on the zodiac signs, the shows have so far shared a unified feeling. The decision to structure HALO as a year-long show cycle based on the horoscope is a brilliant idea. The concept of continuity creates a curiosity about the next show. Is the next one different? Do the signs really have their own characteristics? Are artists in the same group similar?
The show cycle shines a bright light on Tereza Seabra and her gallery. She already is a star in the Portuguese contemporary jewelry world, but with the surrounding stars, the light is much brighter. As in the Universe, some constellations support each other's existence, so it is in the Portuguese jewelry world. The light reflects between people.
This article was originally published on Art Jewelry Forum on September 15, 2025. (https://artjewelryforum.org/articles/under-planetary-influences_halo-cycle-at-galeria-tereza-seabra_portugal_auth-kaia-ansip_9-8-2025) Reprinted with permission.
ADVERTISING
Previous
article
19 Nov 2025
3 Projetos X 3 Encontros: Networks and Relationships
By Catarina Real
