After a period spent in London, between 1964 and 1965, Julião Sarmento (Lisbon, 1948-2021) returned to Lisbon and entered the Superior School of Fine Arts. He attended the Painting and Architecture courses, but did not complete them. His first solo exhibition was in 1976, at the Modern Art Gallery of Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, where he also participated at the exhibition Alternativa Zero the following year. Seven years later, the exhibition Depois do Modernismo [After Modernism] was held at the same institution. His path is marked from the beginning by an increasing international presence – and recognition – in events such as the Kassel Documenta (1982 and 1987), the IV Paris Biennial (1980), the 47th Venice Biennale (1997), the 25thSão Paulo Biennial (2002), and in projects like the partnership with Atoum Egoyan, at the 48th Venice Biennale (2001). Using a variety of media – painting, drawing, photography, film, installation and engraving – Sarmento developed an original career, marked by works composed from moments and fragments and which are centred in the human figure, with a particular interest for the woman. Feminine figures, instruments, objects, architectures and, sometimes, animals, inhabit these compositions, mostly only by mere suggestion, through processes of occultation and fragmentation of the scenes. Many of his works are metaphorically associated to dimensions of violence or sexuality. However, the artist not always wishes to address these themes per se, but rather what they transmit, as momentary actions, rhythms, movements, emotions, in a reference to methods of literature and cinema. The titles themselves are considered by the artist as a key part of the work, and from the 1970’s, he incorporated words in his work, in the form of excerpts or captions. Throughout his career, he exhibited in important national institutions – Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Nacional Museum of Contemporary Art and Serralves Foundation – and international institutions – Guggenheim Museum (New York), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Tate Modern (London), IVAM (Valencia), Museo de Bellas Artes de Málaga, among others. Serralves Museum did, in 2012-13, a retrospective exhibition of his work, awarded the AICA/SEC Prize, 2012. Recently, and after his death, an important exhibition was held, Abstrato, Branco, Tóxico e Volátil, planned by Sarmento while still alive in cooperation with curator Catherine David. His work is represented in numerous collections in Portugal and abroad.
FMV, August 2022
