Post-Pop deviation in Portugal and England 1965-1975

Inaugurated on April 20, 2018, at the Main Gallery of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Headquarters in Lisbon, the exhibition *Post-Pop. Out of the Ordinary — Deviations from Pop in Portugal and England, 1965-1975* brought together more than two hundred works produced mainly in that decade, offering a renewed look at a culturally vibrant era. Curated by Ana Vasconcelos and Patrícia Rosas and held in collaboration with the British Council, which that year marked 80 years of presence in Portugal, the exhibition explored how artists from both countries received and transcended the language of Pop Art. In the case of Portuguese artists—true escapees from the mediocrity that prevailed in the country—there was a common thread: the search for inspiration abroad, especially in London, the true mecca of the 1960s. Their relationship with Pop Art thus emerged as deviated or deviant, allowing them to broaden and transform the movement's sphere of influence. While in the United Kingdom Pop Art took on a lighter form, in Portugal this second wave was marked by an introspective character and a more forceful language, suited to visual criticism of an oppressive regime. Among the most impactful works was *Jaz Morto e Arrefece, o Menino de Sua Mãe* (He Lies Dead and Cools, His Mother's Boy), a plaster sculpture by Clara Menéres (1973), representing a soldier killed in the Colonial War on a metal urn—evoking the regime's secretive nighttime transport of coffins. Artists such as Eduardo Batarda, António Palolo, and José de Guimarães also brought to the exhibition the weight of this conflict and the resistance to the Estado Novo regime. During its nearly five-month run, until September 10th, the exhibition received approximately 56,000 visitors.