Mário Botas (Nazaré, 1952 – Lisbon, 1983) grew up and completed high school in his home town, and he moved to Lisbon in 1970. In the capital, he enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine and completed the course in 1975. However, he would not practice medicine, completing only an internship in psychiatry. Interested in following an artistic career, he had his first solo exhibitions in the Nazaré Tourism Municipal Commission, in 1971 and at S. Mamede Gallery, in Lisbon, two years later. In the same year, he had contact with the surrealist practices, through Cruzeiro Seixas, Mário Cesariny, Paula Rego and Raúl Perez. Although influential in this initial period of his work, Mário Botas quickly abandoned the surrealist conventions, of which he even became critical. The year of 1977 was marked by an event that would affect the rest of his life: at the early age of twenty-four years old, he was diagnosed with leukaemia. From that moment on, he decided to dedicate himself entirely to painting, drawing and other artistic activities. He, however, did not totally abandon the chance of a cure and left for New York, in 1978, where he was observed at the Memorial Hospital. At the same time, he absorbed references of the American city, that fascinated him not only for its movement and diversity, but essentially for its poetic and fantasy dimensions. It is this mythical universe that captures his interest, manifesting in all his work, as well as literature, another great source of inspiration. In New York, he is introduced to the work of painter Egon Schiele, which encourages Mário Botas to do, himself, a series of self-portraits. Maybe due to his illness and the perspective of a short life, these will have served as form of self-knowledge, leaving parts of himself, and saying goodbye. In 1980, upon his return to Portugal, he remained totally dedicated to his work, even accelerating the rhythm of production. Within the scope of his artistic activities, besides painting, the direction of the play The Sailor, by Fernando Pessoa, stands out. In 1984, one year after his death, the First Posthumous Exhibition of the Work of Mário Botas was organised, at Cooperativa Árvore and the Mário Botas House-Museum Foundation was created, as expressed in his will.
FMV, July 2020
