Biting Dust presents a selection of two and three-dimensional works over two adjacent rooms connected by a painting of monumental scale, which works as a kind of passageway between two states of consciousness – or two states of being. Like a permeable membrane, it also evokes the mirrors through which death enters and departs to lead humans to ‘The Other Side’ in Orphée, Jean Cocteau’s famous film of 1950 inspired by the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. Humans have always been fascinated by the idea of returning from the dead and by imagining the afterlife, a fundamental element of virtually all systems of spiritual belief. With this installation, Fernão Cruz hints both at our curiosity for the unknown and the complexity of a multilayered world in which appearances can be misleading. One cannot avoid considering how the current pandemic has profoundly affected our relationship to life and death, but also to time, space and the Other, making the duality of this exhibition all the more enticing.

This ground-breaking new project by an emerging artist is yet another instalment of an ongoing, decades-long commitment by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to supporting artists in the production and presentation of ambitious and experimental new work. While it cannot be presented in the Project Room at CAM, this project is part of an exhibition series that has enabled many artists to step up in the course of their career, while allowing audiences to acquaint themselves with thought-provoking work by lesser known artists, from Portugal or from abroad.

We would like to thank Fernão Cruz for such an insightful and inspiring project, as well as all the people at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation who have made it possible.