22 Nov — 28 Feb 2026 @Porto

The Last Dance, Solo Show by Hugo Cantegrel Exhibition text by Andreia Garcia

There are exhibitions built through the accumulation of images, and others that assert themselves through the tension between what is shown and what resists being seen. The Last Dance inhabits that suspended territory — between appearance and the vibration that remains in the air after the gaze. Hugo Cantegrel’s work does not linger on the surface of things: it pursues the moment when the visible becomes presence, when looking turns into matter, and it explores the interval between what is seen and what is felt — that rarefied zone where image becomes thought and sound becomes memory.

Hugo Cantegrel is a French visual artist and curator, born in 1991. After training at the Atelier de Sèvres in Paris, he continued his studies at Central Saint Martins College in London. Based in Lisbon for several years, Hugo Cantegrel develops a practice centered on installation, scenography, and objects, where autobiographical narrative, everyday elements, domestic settings, and cinematic languages ​​intersect. His sculptural installations often take the form of suspended moments between memory and fiction, where each object becomes a character or silence. He thus composes sensitive spaces, marked by a certain dramatic tension and fueled by visual poetry. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Among his solo exhibitions, highlights include Just before we begin (Galeria FOCO, 2020), From the bottom of my heart (Ostra practice, 2024), and It was all a dream (Galeria Foco, 2022). He has also participated in international fairs such as SWAB Barcelona, ​​Contemporary Istanbul, and Art Brussels. His work has been recognized with several awards, including the Lowe Nova Award, and some of his works are part of private and institutional collections, such as those of António Cachola or the Santander Foundation in Portugal.