NOVO Curso - Perfect Timing
com Alexis Vaillant, Francisco Tropa e Kathleen Campagnolo. Primavera 2026 no Ar.Co, Xabregas.

Curso - Perfect timing

Programa presencial
A maioria dos artistas e instituições culturais vive hoje sob pressão — uma pressão definida não só pela produção, mas também pelo timing. Numa era de saturação, em que as imagens, as ideias e as ações competem por atenção em tempo real, o impulso para pertencermos ao nosso tempo tornou-se um requisito crucial. Quer esteja a responder a tendências políticas, sociais ou estéticas, a produção cultural contemporânea é frequentemente orientada — se não mesmo condicionada — pela necessidade fundamental de transmitir a mensagem certa no momento certo. Este curso examina a dinâmica complexa do perfect timing nas artes — como uma competência técnica, como uma questão filosófica, como uma estratégia conceptual e como uma exigência cultural. Vamos considerar de que forma o timing molda não apenas o processo de criação artística em diversas disciplinas, mas também como ele influencia a forma como a arte é percecionada e compreendida.

O que esperar do Perfect Timing no Ar.Co.?
Criado para participantes que desejam expandir as possibilidades dos seus meios de expressão escolhidos, este programa de três meses convida a um envolvimento profundo com o conceito de Perfect Timing, tanto enquanto questão estética como enquanto preocupação crítica. Os participantes irão explorar como as imagens e as práticas temporais moldam a cultura contemporânea, ao mesmo tempo que desenvolvem um corpo de trabalho distinto, baseado nas urgências do momento presente. Orientado por três mentores — o artista plástico português Francisco Tropa, a curadora e historiadora de arte norte‐americana Kathleen Campagnolo e o escritor e curador francês Alexis Vaillant — o curso oferece uma estrutura multifacetada que reúne teoria crítica, desenvolvimento técnico e experimentação criativa. Através de estudos de caso, textos recentes, visitas a exposições e planos de trabalho em constante evolução, os alunos envolver‐se‐ão com a noção de perfect timing, explorando a tensão entre espontaneidade e cálculo, intuição e estratégia, urgência e hesitação. Ao fazê‐lo, confrontarão a questão central: O que significa, hoje, fazer arte no tempo e a tempo? Cada aluno desenvolverá um trabalho contínuo, refinará os seus critérios críticos para articular a sua própria prática e a dos outros, aguçará o seu olhar para a inovação e envolver‐se‐á com o contexto intelectual da expressão artística como parte do ecossistema dinâmico do Ar.Co.

Se nunca refletiu sobre o timing — seja ele bom, mau ou perfeito — este é o seu momento.

Condições: Os alunos têm acesso a um espaço de trabalho em atelier permanente (horário 2ª a sexta das 10h às 22h) com acompanhamento semanal colectivo e 1 aula por mês ministrada pelo artista/professor convidado (aberto ao exterior). Os participantes poderão ter acesso aos recursos departamentais da escola (a avaliar caso a caso e com o acompanhamento dos orientadores do Curso) – Biblioteca, Sala digital, Laboratórios, entre outros). Visitas open-studio a definir e eventual mostra no final do Curso. O Programa é ministrado em Inglês.

data: Março/Abril/Maio 2026
horario: 2ª a 6ª feria das 10h às 22h
local: Ar.Co – Antigo Mercado de Xabregas, Lisboa.
preço: 600€+ 60€ inscrição 4,50€ seguro (pagamento em três mensalidades de 200€)

Course - Perfect Timing

On-campus Program
Most artists and cultural agencies today live under pressure - a pressure defined not only by output, but by timing. In an age of saturation, where images, ideas, and actions compete for attention in real time, the drive to be of one’s time has become a crucial requirement. Whether responding to political, social, or aesthetic trends, contemporary cultural production is often guided—if not governed—by the key necessity of delivering the right message at the right time. This course examines the complex dynamics of perfect timing in the arts—as a technical skill, a philosophical question, a conceptual strategy, and a cultural demand. We’ll consider how timing shapes not only the process of making art across various disciplines, but also how it influences the way art is perceived and understood.

What to expect at Perfect Timing, Ar.Co?
Created for students who want to expand the possibilities of their chosen media, this three-month curriculum invites deep engagement with the concept of perfect timing as both an aesthetic and critical concern. Students will explore how images and time-based practices shape contemporary culture while developing a distinctive body of work grounded in the urgencies of the present moment. Guided by three mentors - Portuguese visual artist Francisco Tropa, American curator and art historian Kathleen Campagnolo, and French writer and curator Alexis Vaillant—the course offers a multi-layered structure that brings together critical theory, technical development, and creative experimentation. Through case studies, recent texts, exhibition visits, and evolving to-do lists, students will engage with the notion of perfect timing, exploring the tension between spontaneity and calculation, intuition and strategy, urgency and hesitation. In doing so, they will confront the central question: What does it mean, today, to make art in—and on—time? Each student will develop ongoing work, refine their critical criteria to articulate both their own and others’ practices, sharpen their eye for innovation, and engage with the intellectual context of artistic expression as part of Ar.Co’s dynamic ecosystem.

If you haven’t thought about timing—good, bad, or perfect—this is your moment.

Conditions: Students have access to a permanent studio workspace (open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) with weekly group tutoring and one class per month taught by a guest artist/teacher (open to the public). Participants may have access to the school's departmental resources (to be assessed on a case-by-case basis and with the guidance of the course advisors) – Library, Digital Room, Laboratories, Studios among others). Classes and tutoring in English.

data: March, April, May 2026
horario: Mondays do Fridays from 10h to 22h
local: Ar.Co – Antigo Mercado de Xabregas, Lisboa.
preço: 600€ + 60€ (enrolment) + 4,50€ (ensurance) - payment in three instalments of 200€
professores:
Alexis Vaillant
Alexis Vaillant is a French exhibition maker, writer, and editor based in Lisbon. Previously, he was a Chief Curator at the CAPC, Contemporary Art Museum in Bordeaux where he organized solo exhibitions of Michael Krebber, Dan Finsel, Robert Breer, Franz Erhard Walther, Sylvia Sleigh, Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz, Michael E. Smith, among many others, as well as major group shows such as “Big Minis. Fetishes of crisis,” “Dystopia,” “Secret Societies.” He has also worked at Toasting Agency in Paris, and at the MAMCO in Geneva. He has curated exhibitions at Musée d’art moderne in Paris, ICA in London, MUDAM in Luxembourg, Triennale in Milano, CAC in Vilnius, Kunst Halle in Sankt Gallen, and Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, among many others. He has published numerous articles in art periodicals, including Kunst-Bulletin, Afterall, Mousse, and contributed texts to a large number of catalogs and monographs. His most recent publications include: Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Writings and Interviews, Sternberg Press, London (2025), and “Negotiating Attention. The Art of Yu Nishimura” in Yu Nishimura, Crèvecoeur, Paris; Sadie Coles, London; Verlag Buchlandung Walther König, Cologne (2025). Vaillant is currently working on an art book at the intersection of celebrity, solitude, and saturation.


Francisco Tropa
Sculpture has been a permanent interest in the artistic practice of Francisco Tropa, who began working in the early 1990s and gained over time significant attention from both art institutions and critics. Besides representing Portugal in the Venice Biennale (2011), he also participated in the Rennes Biennial (2012), the Istanbul Biennial (2011), Manifesta (2000), the Melbourne Biennial (1999) and the São Paulo Biennial (1998). Tropa uses several media – sculpture, drawing, performance, photography and film — to convey a series of reflections introduced by the different traditions of sculpture. Subjects such as the body, death, nature, landscape, memory, origin or time are always present in his works, in an endless process of projection of references from Art History, other art works, previous works by the artist, and specific authors. Notions of device and spectator are also essential to understanding his practice, which defies all traditional categories of art, as well as its representation and perception.


Kathleen Merrill Campagnolo
Kathleen Merrill Campagnolo is an art historian, editor, and curator specializing in modern and contemporary art. She has organized exhibitions such as This Is a Portrait If I Say So and curated projects with Uta Barth, Sophie Calle, Roni Horn, Fred Sandback, and Bill Viola. Her writing includes publications on Walter De Maria, Robert Smithson, and Francisco Tropa. A graduate of Dartmouth College, she holds an MA and PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Art. She previously directed art programs at the Lannan Foundation and is currently writing for MAAT on the EDP Foundation Art Collection.