António Palolo
António Palolo (Évora, 1946 – Lisboa, 2000), even if self-educated, demonstrated early his aptitude for fine arts, as well as the desire to relate to the artistic vanguards. His first encounter with modernism happened through Joaquim Bravo, who introduced him to Álvaro Lapa and António Charrua. His first solo exhibition took place in 1964, when he was still 18 years old, at 111 Gallery – at the time, an important dissemination centre for the artists with more experimental and vanguard activities – where he would show regularly until the 1980’s. Between 1967 and 1969, he did his military service in Africa, and for this reason he was forced to decline the invitation to be one of the representatives of Portugal at the São Paulo Biennale. Back in Portugal, he received honorary mentions at the Soquil Prize Exhibition (1969) and at the Mobil da Arte Exhibition (1970), and showed his work at renowned Portuguese institutions, such as Valentim de Carvalho Gallery, Quadrum Gallery, Diferença Gallery, the Modern Art Centre of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes. At the end of the 60’s, he oriented his work to new endeavours, making experimental films and videos, such as Lines (1970) and Spacer (1976), as well as four installations at Quadrum Gallery (1979-1981). His work also contributed to the redecoration of A Brasileira Café (1971), to the mural commemorating the 25th of April 1974, in Belém, to the Évora Municipal Swimming Pool and to the Subway of Lisbon. Between 1983 and 1989, he produced concert installations and disc covers for the Telectu band. Throughout approximately forty years, his work alternated between abstraction and figuration, with an original language within the Portuguese painting panorama, taking as influences a multiplicity of international artistic movements, such as Pop Art, Neo-Dadaism, Hard Edge and Neo-Expressionism. In 1995, there was a retrospective exhibition of his work at the Modern Art Centre of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and, presently, his work is represented in relevant private and institutional collections.
FMV, October 2020
