Loitering with intent in Lisbon 11

Before leaving Belem we decided to call in at the art gallery which was about the only thing open in the area on a Monday. The Centro Cultural de Belem (CCB for short) is Lisbon's answer to the Tate Modern in London or MOMA in New York: a vast collection of modern art.

Much of the art unfortunately fell into the category of 'I could have done that, but someone else thought of it first.' Things like silkscreens, geometric abstracts and nails on a board.

There were quite a few famous names like Man Ray...

...Picasso...

...and Warhol...

...but they seemed to be rather small, minor pieces. The permanent collection which has been on show here since 2007 was assembled by one of the country's richest businessmen, Joe Berardo, who made his money in mining.

Other floors within the gallery play host to temporary exhibitions. At the time of our visit the space was  given over to works by a Brazilian artist, Vik Muniz, who specialises in portraits made from anything other than paint. For instance, there was a pair of Mona Lisas on view, one in putter butter, the other in jam.

Of course a portrait made from fresh food, dry soil or wet ink is not going to last very long on a gallery wall, so these were photos of the original works. Often it was easy to find a strong correlation between most of the subjects and the materials used to create it, like Elizabeth Taylor made of diamonds...

or Jackie Kennedy in blood-red ketchup.

While most of the pieces were copies of famous artworks or iconic photographs, there also were straightforward portraits, such as these children from a Caribbean island known for its sugar production (their surprisingly-detailed faces assembled from sugar)...

...as compared to the children who live on a garbage dump outside Rio, their bodies made from the very rubbish they would sift through in order to survive.

Sometimes you had to look very closely to see what materials had been used in the portrait. Pulling back again you'd realise the huge scale of some of these works. Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son for instance was made up of large pieces of rubbish like tyres, traffic cones and oil drums.

On our way out we browsed the shop which was very well-stocked with art journals and photography books. Elsewhere in the complex (Portugal's largest cultural centre) there are two auditoriums, bars, a restaurant and a conference hall.

Looking over a balcony, it appeared that the floor below us was closed in readiness for the next exhibition. At least, I think it was closed. Who knows, maybe we were looking down on an artwork which just happened to involve a ladder against the wall? After our look around the CCB it was hard to tell!