Delusional REI-MAR
Inês Brites
Guilherme Figueiredo
Ana Jotta
Luís Lázaro Matos
Sreya
Maria Ventura
Casa de Santa Maria, Cascais
Opening: Friday, Oct. 26, 2025, 6pm
The translation of the English word “delusional” into Portuguese is “delirious” or “illusory.” The term is often used to describe a person or situation that is considered outside the norm, inhabiting another reality. The word can describe a situation that is beyond collective understanding and reflects the state of a person who lives outside the context.
Artistic practice is often seen as something beyond common understanding, a fictional place where a different and particular understanding of the world is created. Artists are often confronted with a romanticized idea of what it means to make art by those who view the world with the rationality of order and progress. The level of experimentation practiced in any field, whether in science, business, or life, is very present in the production of works of art. We can speak of a type of freedom that manifests itself in the choice of materials, forms, and colors, which together produce content and an approach that intercepts the viewer through surprise and the enjoyment of a unique and unprecedented experience.
The intervention presented by Spirit Shop at Casa de Santa Maria as part of the Bairros dos Museus celebration takes the word “delusional” as its starting point to think of this place as a space of possibilities and projections of the world based on the work of each of the invited artists. The history and typology of the Casa refer to the fantasy of a place that for many years was limited to the family home, a symbol of the economic power of its owners, isolated from the world. The opening of this space to the public reveals, as in any domestic realm, that peculiarities and details are the soul of any construction. The fanciful character of the work of Raúl Lino, who designed this space, demonstrates his contribution to the architecture of late Romanticism, which prolonged and helped to construct a narrative of national identity based on normative customs, extending the patterns of a hierarchical and often oppressive society.
Spirit Shop's intervention at Casa de Santa Maria attempts to imagine another reality for this space, inspired by the description of the mythical Reimar bar in Lisbon, described by José Manuel dos Santos in his text “O espelho vazio” (The Empty Mirror), which the author frequented with his friend Mário Cesariny. The world that unfolded at Reimar was a parallel universe to that experienced in Cascais, but very real and full of characters that only exist in films. I quote the author: "And if Cesariny was an envoy of fire, there were also Apollonian and Dionysian envoys (some in uniform) of the other three elements, earth, sea, and air, joined by, in fearsome contrast, dwarves, lame giants, one-eyed people, hunchbacks, stutterers, and mutes. “All good people,” said Cesariny. And he added: “Compared to this, what Ulysses saw on his return journey to Ithaca was banal...”
PB, August 2025
Inês Brites
Guilherme Figueiredo
Ana Jotta
Luís Lázaro Matos
Sreya
Maria Ventura
Casa de Santa Maria, Cascais
Opening: Friday, Oct. 26, 2025, 6pm
The translation of the English word “delusional” into Portuguese is “delirious” or “illusory.” The term is often used to describe a person or situation that is considered outside the norm, inhabiting another reality. The word can describe a situation that is beyond collective understanding and reflects the state of a person who lives outside the context.
Artistic practice is often seen as something beyond common understanding, a fictional place where a different and particular understanding of the world is created. Artists are often confronted with a romanticized idea of what it means to make art by those who view the world with the rationality of order and progress. The level of experimentation practiced in any field, whether in science, business, or life, is very present in the production of works of art. We can speak of a type of freedom that manifests itself in the choice of materials, forms, and colors, which together produce content and an approach that intercepts the viewer through surprise and the enjoyment of a unique and unprecedented experience.
The intervention presented by Spirit Shop at Casa de Santa Maria as part of the Bairros dos Museus celebration takes the word “delusional” as its starting point to think of this place as a space of possibilities and projections of the world based on the work of each of the invited artists. The history and typology of the Casa refer to the fantasy of a place that for many years was limited to the family home, a symbol of the economic power of its owners, isolated from the world. The opening of this space to the public reveals, as in any domestic realm, that peculiarities and details are the soul of any construction. The fanciful character of the work of Raúl Lino, who designed this space, demonstrates his contribution to the architecture of late Romanticism, which prolonged and helped to construct a narrative of national identity based on normative customs, extending the patterns of a hierarchical and often oppressive society.
Spirit Shop's intervention at Casa de Santa Maria attempts to imagine another reality for this space, inspired by the description of the mythical Reimar bar in Lisbon, described by José Manuel dos Santos in his text “O espelho vazio” (The Empty Mirror), which the author frequented with his friend Mário Cesariny. The world that unfolded at Reimar was a parallel universe to that experienced in Cascais, but very real and full of characters that only exist in films. I quote the author: "And if Cesariny was an envoy of fire, there were also Apollonian and Dionysian envoys (some in uniform) of the other three elements, earth, sea, and air, joined by, in fearsome contrast, dwarves, lame giants, one-eyed people, hunchbacks, stutterers, and mutes. “All good people,” said Cesariny. And he added: “Compared to this, what Ulysses saw on his return journey to Ithaca was banal...”
PB, August 2025
