Augusto Alves da Silva
Born in Lisbon, Augusto Alves da Silva (1963) lives and works in Tremês, Santarém. Abandoning his degree in Civil Engineering at the Instituto Superior Técnico (1981-1984), he went on to study at the London College of Printing (B.A. Hons. Photography, 1989) and at the Slade School of Fine Art (M.F.A. Media, 1997), with two scholarships from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Affirming his place in the field of photography from the late 1990s onwards, he was nominated for the Latin Union Prize in 1996 and was a finalist for the Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize in 1999. He was also part of the Portuguese representation at the 9th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2004 and, in 2006, shortlisted for the BES Photo Award.
A photographer par excellence, his work also extends to video. The creator of a serial and sequential oeuvre, Augusto Alves da Silva works in the field of colour figuration, where the imprint of the Düsseldorf documentary school can be recognised from an early stage. By transposing the realistic and synthetic approach, the artist consciously explores the artificiality of representation. His work crosses over the major themes of landscape and portraiture, but his view of loneliness takes centre stage in the solo exhibition Crystal Clear, held at MACE - Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Elvas, 2016-2017.
Exhibiting in renowned Portuguese and international institutions, Augusto Alves da Silva has held solo shows such as ist, Culturgest, 1995; Quatro Pontos Cardeais, Fundação de Serralves, 1997; Una Ciudade Así and Carretera en Work, Museu Nacional de Reina Sofia, 1998; CNB 2001, Instituto Camões in Paris, 2001; Espaço de Tempo and Ugly, MNAC - Museu do Chiado, 2002; BES Photo 2006, CCB, 2007. He was the subject of the retrospective Sem Saída / Ensaio sobre o Optimismo, Museu de Serralves 2009-2010. During his career, he has taken part in numerous group exhibitions, both nationally and internationally, including the exhibition Artists on the Road in the Modern Collection, shown at CAM – Centro de Arte Moderna in 2020.
His work has been published in several art books, especially in reference to the early series, and is represented in various private and institutional collections, including the MACE collection.
Rita Salgueiro
