We plan a trip to the Parque de Serralves today. There are three things at the park: the museum, the house, and the gardens. Anticipating weather in the morning, we hope to walk the gardens first, then take the house and museum when the weather turns. First, we stop at a small local cafe for breakfast, and on our way to the museum, we stumble on an old church: the Igreja de Sao Martinho de Lordelo (1764). Wandering to the church takes us through an older neighborhood that's kind of "behind" the commercial-modern look of the Avenida da Boavista, the main drag here.
Clearly this older area is slowly being knocked down and replaced with mid-rise apartment blocks. It's a shame these blocks can't be saved or incorporated, but I'm sure they are not sound.
When we make it to the Parque and pay our fees, we head out to the gardens. Instead of taking a right, we take a left, surprising the guards, but we want to see the Richard Serra first. The last time I visited, the Serra stood against a verdant row of trees, in hard sunlight; now they trees are bare, and the sun is low, making striking shadows on the steel.
We emerge from the alley containing the Serra, and into the wider Jardim de Serralves. Sculptural objects and farm animals dot the lawns. The gardens look good with the damp ground and the cool air, and the walk is truly pleasurable.
We are in the house, the Casa de Serralves, when there is a sudden sun-shower. There is no art being shown, as there was last summer, so the house is barren. It seems even bigger than I remember.
Into the formal gardens, the light is playing with the shapes of the sculpted shrubs, the plants are wet from the showers and there are twinkling highlights.
We return to the Museu de Serralves, the main building designed by Alvaro Size Vieira in 1996. There are two artists being shown in the main galleries: geometric sculptures by Daniel Steegmann Mangrane called "A Transparent Leaf Instead of the Mouth", and graphic works and paintings by Jorge Pinheiro entitled "D'Apres Fibonacci and the World Out There".
Our last stop is the Museum's Library, where there are "First View" albums being shown. There lots of students using the study space. Particularly appealing is the lighting installation.
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