BLANK x Craveiral Farmhouse Residency: Artists in Residence

February 1 - 28, 2022

We are very pleased to announce that the first four artists have arrived for the second edition of BLANK Residency at Craveiral Farmhouse. Anna Virnich, Hugo Brazão, Johanna Dumet and Kiko Pérez have joined us, and we are very excited to welcome Arthur Löwen and Manutcher Milani this week!

The artists will be living and working in the Portuguese countryside for the month of February. Surrounded by nature, the residency provides a space for selfcare, reflection and time for developing new work in exchange with other creatives. We will be sharing insights of the work in progress tours, as well as the final open studios taking place on the 27th of February on our Instagram.

We are also very excited that Alice Bonnot will be joining us soon at Craveiral Farmhouse to host a workshop on environmentally sustainable studio practices on Wednesday the 9th of February

ARTISTS

Anna Virnich (born 1984) lives and works in Berlin. Her practice draws on a wide range of materials and formal references. The textile tableaus however mark the centre of her multimedia practice. The approach to painting is unconventional in that it involves the rejection of painting itself in favour of textiles. It reflects on the history of its use and renounces its traditional support - the canvas - in favour of a work that wavers between the formal parameters of painting and sculpture.

Arthur Löwen (born 1987) lives and works in Frankfurt am Main. After studying at the Mainz Art Academy, Löwen completed his studies at the HBK Braunschweig. In his paintings, he carefully captures physical relationships and inscribes an aesthetics of entities into an essence-giving style. In Löwen’s latest works, his own name finds its way onto the canvas. Mirrored, they become the abstract of the imprint on the front. In his large scale paintings Löwen negotiates physicality and materiality.

Hugo Brazão (born 1989 in Madeira, Portugal) lives and works in London. His artistic practice covers painting, sculpture and textile and develops around the fiction/reality paradox, reimagining the material found within his research, creating different narratives around it and finding different technical possibilities for each project. He completed an MA in Fine Arts at Central Saint Martins (London, 2015) and a BA in Painting at Faculdade de Belas-Artes de Lisboa (2013).

Manutcher Milani is a painter and carpet maker. His work stands out through an abundance of symbols, dazzling colors, and ornaments. Traditional Ghanaian Adinkra symbols and Persian carpets have influenced the artist since his childhood. The artist reads his carpets and paintings as moods, which he often connotes with music.

Johanna Dumet (born 1991 in Gueret, France) lives and works in Berlin. Her practice is characterized by an expressive use of color, as well as its familial and popular themes. Her work raises questions of identity, exclusion, and belonging, incorporating familiar references with promising subjects that instinctively engage herself and the viewer. Dumet’s practice is questioning the icons of our time, the consumeristic behavior associated with them, and further, its attributions to society.

Kiko Pérez (born 1982 in Vigo, Spain) currently lives and works in Madrid. His practice finds itself between painting and sculpture. Each discipline allows him to attend to different subject matters. In his paintings, he investigates the qualities of the objects and reflects upon images and their purpose. On the other hand, sculpture becomes a tool for Pérez to focus on the superficiality and interaction with the body. However, these often tend to be combined depending on the desire towards the object.

ABOUT

BLANK100 is a nomadic project supporting artistic exchange, started with the interim use of a former furniture factory in Dalston, London. Within a period of 15 months, BLANK100 hosted various exhibitions, performance events, talks and supper clubs connecting creatives from all disciplines. The concept was based on a strong belief in community and that ideas need to be given the right platform to fully unfold. BLANK100 teamed up with Craveiral Farmhouse for a long-term artist residency partnership, with new exciting projects to be realized within the coming years.

Craveiral Farmhouse is a sustainable quinta in Odemira, consisting of 38 whitewashed self-contained cottages on nine hectares of land. Known for its farm-to-table restaurant, Craveiral Farmhouse further provides four swimming pools, a well-being area, an educational farm with animals, an orchard of trees, a permaculture garden and nature centre. More than a luxury hotel, it is dedicated to leaving a positive impact on the world, providing unique experiences for guests looking to connect with nature and understand rural life.