The Great Unkown and O sol quando nasce não é: Pedro Valdez Cardoso at Fernando Santos Gallery

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DATE

23 Feb 2026

AUTHOR

Mafalda Teixeira

The Great Unkown and O sol quando nasce não é: Pedro Valdez Cardoso at Fernando Santos Gallery

AUTHOR

Mafalda Teixeira

Like a cabinet of curiosities – wunderkammer – conceived by Pedro Valdez Cardoso (1974), the exhibition The Great Unknown, on display at Espaço 117 of the Fernando Santos Gallery (Porto), takes us on an authentic journey in which History is (re)created by our gaze. As we move through the exhibition space, we are seduced by the collection of rare and exotic objects and the diversity of artifacts that, coming from an expedition, evoke polar regions in an alliance between art, science, archaeology and utopias.

The dual and ironic character, as well as the critical and reflective sense that characterize Pedro Valdez Cardoso´s artistic practice, lead us to search for meanings and interpretations that the artist unveils in the subtext of his work, in the stitching of his embroidery, and in the duplicity he offers us. In this regard, it is important to mention that The Great Unknown is actually a Museum of Unknowing, a museum of false objects, devoid of historical veracity¹. The massive exhibition display, as if it were an ancient museum, presents us with a chamber of wonders composed of more than one hundred pieces, including old works, unpublished works, and others conceived specifically for the exhibition. Also noteworthy is the inclusion of personal objects belonging to the artist's private collection, in which we find aesthetic and formal connections with possible historical objects and artifacts that make up the imaginary museum.

Although not presented as an epilogue, the exhibition The Great Unknown is, in the artist's words, the culmination of a journey begun in 2008 exploring the idea of the poles, more specifically the Arctic. From a perspective linked to the idea of seeking other places in parallel with his personal and artistic journey, the project Nothing will keep us together (Módulo Gallery - Centro Difusor de Arte, 2008) was an initial approach by Pedro Valdez Cardoso (PVC) to the diverse formal and conceptual configurations of the Arctic, using certain aesthetic characteristics of the region's fauna. Dating from this period are the first cartographic maps, in which PVC reproduced the Arctic landscape and ecosystem on cleaning sponges, alluding to the industrialized world, as well as the grids – stitched or drawn – that evoke both classic design frames and the wire grids used in archaeological excavations. Works that we find again in this exhibition reaffirm the artist's interest in the first human explorations of the Arctic in the 19th century, in the utopias associated with the white planet, and in icy zones as places of paleontological discoveries.

Starting from the notion of expedition, following a documentary and museographic logic, we observe in The Great Unknown, the set of maps and field drawings that establish a dialogue with archaeological practice, as well as the diversity of objects and various materials that simulate artifacts: Boots; Mask; Backpack; Gloves, among others. Some of these works, although reformulated, had already been presented in 2015 in the exhibition Ártico: narrativa e fantasmática (Arctic: narrative and phantasmagoria) (CIAJG), a period in which PVC returned to the question of the Arctic, in a different theoretical approach, focusing on the geographical and geopolitical specificities of the region.

In addition to the materials, drawings, and objects developed in the aforementioned exhibitions, the current show includes new works, never-before-seen pieces, and personal objects acquired by the artist that configure his imaginary museum, as a place of exploration and (mis)understanding of the polar regions. Throughout the exhibition, we are accompanied by the idea of time and a suspension that becomes eternal, as well as by the presence of elements that evoke resistance – both that of the polar landscape and of those who inhabit it. In this regard, let us highlight some of the artist's recent works: The Great Unknown (2025), a large block in which a fossilized “human” skeleton is embedded, as if from an archaeological excavation; Odobenus rosmarus (2025), a piece in plastic that mimics the skull of the walrus that inhabits the Arctic waters; or Caçadores de Baleias (2025) (Whale Hunters). In these works, the idea of resistance is revealed to us through the bones as armor that withstands time and death. Also noteworthy is the imagery of the artist's most recent objects, which we associate with the indigenous peoples of the Arctic: the spear; the sled; the fur rug; tribal masks; the Bone Knife and the Idols. At the end of our journey through PVC's cabinet of curiosities, we observe hoisted on the upper level of one of the walls a white flag with words embroidered in the same color: The end of the world, a metaphorical, ironic, and humorous message from the artist referring to a region where fossil preservation, made possible by low temperatures, contributes to the discovery and understanding of the origin of Man and the planet². The color of the flag, which we associate with the White Planet, evokes this remote and almost uninhabited place, a space of freedom and without borders that the Museum of Unknowing – notwithstanding the falsity of the objects that compose it – allows us to discover.

From the illusion presented in The Great Unknown, we are led to another space and a new time that the artist offers us in o Sol quando nasce não é, a sculpture whose monochrome and homogeneous treatment of materials accentuates the meaning of the work and its title. On display at the CUBO space of the Fernando Santos Gallery, we are drawn to the scenographic and theatrical character of the installation, whose vast collection of everyday objects launches us into a debate and reflection on issues that go beyond the field of aesthetics. Visually rich, the work stands as an artistic, social, and political statement by PVC through the appropriation and accumulation of materials of diverse nature, which, camouflaged under a new skin – although recognizable – acquire new meanings and interpretations.

To begin with, the irony present in the title O sol quando nasce não é which, in a play on words based on the proverb o sol quando nasce é para todos (when the sun rises it’s meant for everyone) refers to concepts of inequality and despondency. Illusion, humor, and critique are equally present in the scenic construction of the sculpture, in which the manipulation of objects predominates, revealing the importance that the artist attributes to the constructive process and the materials used. In this regard, let us highlight the wheelbarrow, which serves as the base for the sculpture, in a clear allusion to the idea of displacement, journey, and nomadism. Transformed into a kind of nomadic house, entirely blue, we observe inside utilitarian objects covered in the same blue fabric – bags, cushions, nets, ropes, boxes, a bucket, a mop, among others – and topped by a roof of a childlike house. Although the sculptural work, according to the artist, evokes the idea of home, it also evokes an idea of non-home, and above all an idea of constant and perpetual labor³, in a direct reference to street vendors. On the other hand, and as we observe the sculpture, an association with the current housing crisis seems inevitable. Accompanying the sculptural work, we highlight the presence of the neon piece installed on the wall, which reproduces – as a visual language – its title as a symbol of the capitalized identity of the human⁴, in a poetic work dominated by the blue of the sky, in which ironically there is no reference to the yellow of the sun.

The exhibition is on view at Fernando Santos Gallery, in Porto, until March 14, 2026.

¹Quote from the artist, taken from the exhibition room text for The Great Unknown.

² Idem.

³ Quote from the artist regarding the exhibition O sol quando nasce não é.

⁴ Idem.

BIOGRAPHY

Mafalda Teixeira, Master’s Degree in History of Art, Heritage and Visual Culture from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Porto. She has an internship and worked in the Temporary Exhibitions department of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona. During the master’s degree, she did a curricular internship in production at the Municipal Gallery of Oporto. Currently, she is devoted to research in the History of Modern and Contemporary Art, and publishes scientific articles.

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