Getting closer

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WHILE JACK AND WALTER LOOK FORWARD TO THEIR OPENING DATE – STILL TO BE DECIDED – THEY SHOW US THE ART COLLECTION THAT WILL SOON DRESS THE WALLS OF OLH Ã O ’ S CASA AMOR

Words: ELAINE JOYCE

RTISTS have always made our lives more beautiful, whether at home or in museums, exhibitions, galleries, the streets,” Walter says. “So, when we found we couldn’t take finished photos in September, we went to see Agathe Bazin, a talented young artist who moved her studiogallery into Zé and Maria’s former boutique.

“It’s not always easy for an artist to accept commissioned work,” says Walter, “but Agathe, who has followed us since the beginning, was enthusiastic. We exchanged dozens of on-the-spot snap shots, on-site visits, hours of discussion and she set to work, translating our universe into watercolours –the 1870 building, a cozy room, the rooftop, the patio.”

Artists have been part of the Casa Amor project from the start and Jack and Walter have planned an exhibition space to promote their work. “It will be a modest space,” says Jack, “but something special to show off some real talents.”

Thus the white walls will welcome the works the duo have collected around the world. “They are favourites and also the realisation of friendships formed, and sometimes also a way to help others, as we did with the huge canvas of Marie-Anne Briskman acquired in the 90s in Poitiers in France as part of a fund-raiser for Aids, or the soft watercolour of Dora Keogh we purchased to benefit of the

Top left clockwise: Agathe Bazin’s interpretation of the cosy lounge warmed by a glowing fire; Yves Bonhomme; how the beautiful bathrooms will look; a contemporary piece, No 47, by Kabushi association Somos Esperança in Olhão”.

Casa Amor guests will be able to travel around the world with rare and colourful lithographs by Cocteau, a French artist who died in 1963, and with José Fuster, a Cuban artist inspired by Gaudi. There will also be the Parisian Street artist Inlovestreetart. “We adore this creation, particularly as metro tickets disappeared this year, to be replaced by magnetic cards,” says Walter. “We contacted the artist because we would love him to draw a fresco on the walls of Casa Amor.” Then there is the Spanish painter Juan Galan –“We literally fell in love with his green and fresh patios.”

There is also the work of American painter Scott Gruppé, and Japanese artist Kabushi, which will welcome guests, in front of the statue of Bachus. “When we bought the canvas 47, we were not yet familiar with Olhão,” Jack explains. “Today, we see its colours in this painting – the Ria Formosa, the Jacarandas.” And there is the painting by David Smith from Oxford, a member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists, represented here by the Côrte Real Gallery. “He paints the beaches of Bordeira and Carrapateira like no one else,” says Walter.

The list could go on almost endlessly. Jack and Walter are proud of their collection and entranced by every piece that will grace the walls of Casa Amor.

“Yves Bonhomme from Poitiers, in France, will also join our gallery. We would like to mount an exhibition with him, his new still lifes in glued paper are reminiscent of Matisse,” adds Walter.

And their more recent crush? An artist from Olhão, in residence at the Gama Rama Gallery in Faro, whose exhibition can be seen at Pinta Roxa in Olhão. “Joana Rosa Bragança sketches life in one stroke, as Fernando Pessoa did with words,” says Jack. “These beach scenes are joyful, friendly, festive, we fell for the one entitled Toast to the Summer.”

The next time we meet Jack and Walter, it will be for the opening. When? In December for Christmas – a perfect gift? In January – as a start to the new year?

They are almost there. Not quite, but almost.