The Switch
SWAB Barcelona 2018

The Switch | Gallery

The Switch is an Artist-Run gallery created by Skoya Assemat-Tessandier. Opened in October 2016, in the Arroios neighbourhood of Lisbon, the reconverted grocery storefront presents quarterly solo and group exhibitions by young talents and emerging artists.

The Switch aims to be Young – maybe. Contemporary – somewhat. Ground breaking – eventually. Cutting edge – why not. The only certainty is the perennial belief in fully disrespecting the established status quo of the Artists role in the current Art World.

“We owe the galleries, the curators, the critics, nothing. Less than nothing, we especially donʼt owe them any courtesy. They owe us. They have rearranged the world to put themselves in front of us. They never asked for our permission, we will not even start asking for theirs.”

Between quarterly exhibitions, The Switch host shows, performances and events in the Cabinet de l’Art, as well as custom projects promoting collaboration across various creative industries.

The Switch | Story

“It’s the story of a kid with a crazy dream. Anchoring something in history. A Fifteen year vision. And now a means to an end.”
Fifteen years ago, a kid walks out of Supreme, heading north on Lafayette. From that moment on, the dream was set. To own, as an Artist, his gallery. His space. After all, why the fuck not.

The blood, the sweat and the heartbreaks.

When Art is now a market held by galleries’ lobbies, art fairs and auction houses’ monopolies, controlling access and value, owning a gallery is the most defiant move an artist can engage into.

Here’s to new beginnings.
The Switch.

| Artists

Skoya Assémat-Tessandier
(b. 1986, Paris)

Alchemist [Interdisciplinary Artist]

Skoya Assémat-Tessandier’s practice can be best comprehended by the ever-present touch of alchemy. His work reflects states of subconsciousness, translated across multiple disciplines such as painting, photography, Printmaking, Filmmaking and performance. Since early 2000’s, Skoya devoted himself to create personal techniques, in which intricate textures overflow. His Art embodies “dreams and poems, feelings of love and rage, seasons and celestial bodies, and far beyond”, as he states.
Born and raised in Paris, he has lived in many different cities since then: this nomadic life has shaped his artistic influences and repertoire. Works conceived worldwide were presented in New York, Tokyo, Lisbon, Amsterdam, and Paris.

“I don’t have time”. These were the first words Skoya said when he woke up from a two day coma after a brain trauma. In addition to the 52 stitches going across his skull, he entered in a race. A race with time. Skoya lived the past ten years, fast, at high pace, learning and gaining life experiences along the way. He dropped out of San Francisco Art Institute to join Central Saint Martins, which he left to experience living in Tokyo. He traveled back to the west with the Trans-Siberian railways. He studied Printmaking at SVA in New York, before living in Amsterdam for a couple years. In Paris, his birth town, Skoya was invited at the Cité des Arts artistic residential program and a laureate of Licra’s Jean Pierre-Bloch’s award.

He now lives and works in Lisbon.

https://www.skoya.com/
@skoyastudio

Manuel Tainha
(b. 1993, Lisbon)

Artist [Painter]

Manuel Tainha’s work explores composition through the alternation of processes, may it be addiction/ subtraction, or bi-dimensional/ objectual. The poetry of materials, questions of limitations and violence as well as the domestic condition are constants in his working process.
Manuel studied at Faculty of Fine Arts of University of Lisbon and at the class of Anselm Reyle at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HFBK).

He now lives and works in Lisbon.

@manueltainha

Hugo Cantegrel
(b. 1991, Paris)

Visual Artist

Hugo cantegrel’s practice is built from an autobiographical narrative. He works with installation which main concern to him is about composition. He is looking for a certain visual musicality, a poetry, a theatricality in the installation.
Hugo’s work is strongly influenced by the Nouveau Roman. As in “Les Choses” by Georges Perec, everyday life objects become the main characters of multiple narrations. He likes to keep his work unshut. It is to say that he is looking for different layers of understanding, a certain idea of universality, a mass of references, a call for memories, an interweaving of narratives that each viewer is able to create.

Hugo Cantegrel is a french artist. He studied in Paris and London. After graduating from Central Saint Martins school in 2015, he moved to Lisbon where he now lives and works.

www.hugocantegrel.net
@hugocdb

Aires de Gameiro
(b. 1989, Paris)

Artist [Sculptor & Painter]

The expressive weight of Aires de Gameiro’s art is carried by apprehending sensory experiences of spatial domains. Born in 1989, Lisbon, Aires de Gameiro meticulously experienced crafting techniques since an early age. Raised in a carpentry household introduced him to capture accurate perceptions of matter and forms. Aires de Gameiro graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon and studied Painting at the Fine Arts Academy of Venice (Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia). His works muster pictorial and sculptural expressions, tensioning the perception of reality.

He now lives and works in Lisbon.

http://www.airesdegameiro.com/
@airesdegameiro

The Switch is an Artist-Run gallery born with the vocation to present young talents and emerging Artists.

For further information and booking, visit www.theswitchgallery.com or write to [email protected]

| THE SWITCH
Rua Herois de Quionga, 54D
1170-178, Lisboa / Portugal

www.theswitchgallery.com
[email protected]