Pedro Pires

Railing (Body), 2020

Medium: Wrought metal
Dimensions: 70 × 65 × 40 cm
Bidding opens at: €2,750

In Railing (Body), Pedro Pires transforms ornamental metal elements associated with fences, gates and architectural boundaries into the form of a human head and upper body. A material designed to separate one space from another – to protect, contain and restrict access – becomes the substance of the body itself.

Within Pires’ wider engagement with migration, borders and human rights, this transformation carries particular weight. Borders are not experienced only as lines on maps. Political and social structures determine who may enter, who must leave, who is protected and who remains outside; over time, these external divisions become part of individual experience and identity.

Within Negotiating Belonging, Railing (Body) makes this relationship physical. The boundary is no longer something the figure encounters: it has become the figure. The work asks what happens when the structures governing movement and access become internalised by the people subjected to them. Belonging is therefore presented not simply as an emotional attachment to place, but as something materially shaped by the systems that decide who is permitted to cross, enter and remain.

Place a pre-bid

Bidding on this work opens at €2,750.

The highest pre-bid becomes the price this work opens at on 4 October. If no one in the room bids higher, it is yours at that price.

You can also set a maximum. It stays private. If someone bids against you, we raise your bid for you, one step at a time, never above your maximum. If someone goes past it, you are out and we email you so you can bid again. On the day you can always keep bidding in the room, beyond your maximum if you wish.

First name Surname

Street and number

Postal code City

Country

Email Phone

Your bid, in euros At least €2,750, the starting price for this lot. Bids go up in steps of €200. Your maximum, in euros (optional) The most we may raise you to if others bid. Only used if you are outbid; nobody sees it.

My bid is binding. If I enter a maximum, I am also bound at any amount up to it that the system raises me to when others bid. If I am still the highest bidder on 4 October and no one in the room bids more, the work is mine at that price under the Conditions of Sale.

You will see a reference number straight away and get a confirmation by email. Bids go up in fixed steps: €50 below €1,000, €100 to €2,000, €200 to €5,000, €500 to €10,000, €1,000 to €20,000, then €2,000. If two maximums are equal, the earlier bid keeps the lead and the other bidder is told at once so they can go one step higher. If someone pre-bids above you, or the room goes above you on the day, you are released and owe nothing, and we email you the moment it happens. We use your details only to process your bid and, if you win, to complete the sale. The work goes under the hammer at Negotiating Belonging, 4 October 2026, Juntos House, Ibiza.