Paulo Brighenti

Paulo Brighenti (Lisbon, 1968), completed the advanced course in Plastic Arts at Ar.Co, in 1996. He started showing his work in the 1990’s, presenting at the Ar.Co. grantees and finalists exhibition, in 1995, a video, an installation and several drawings, manifesting his option for the utilization of dark shades – mainly blacks, greys and browns – which would become a frequent characteristic in his future works. Within this context, to be noted the paintings he presented solo in 1998, at the Pedro Cera Gallery, different from those at the exhibition 7 Artistas ao 10º Mês, in which he showed aquarelle drawings with details of hands, in shades of blue. Theme wise, the favourite subject in his production is landscape, which he has been exploring in various media, such as Indian ink, charcoal, aquarelle and oil, using sometimes as inspiration photographs or images from films. In the final result of this process, we find abstract images, condensing and crystalizing ephemeral phenomena. In a solid trajectory, recognized nationally and internationally, the presentation of his work stands out in institutions such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Carmona e Costa Foundation, MAAT, Nassjõ Konstall (Sweden), and other exhibition spaces in Paris, New York, Luxemburg, Oporto and Lisbon. The most important solo and group exhibitions in the last years, are: Pó, (Rooster Gallery, New York, 2014), Projecto Pó, (Carmona e Costa Foundation, Lisbon, 2014), Skinne (Nassjö Konstall, Sweden, 2015), What I am / O que sou (MAAT, Lisbon, 2017), Père  (Portuguese Cultural Centre, Luxemburg, 2017), The old sun / O velho sol (Casa da Cerca, Almada, 2018), Cascata (Belo Galsterer Gallery, Lisbon, 2019) and Uma estátua roída pelo mar (Pedro Oliveira Gallery, Oporto, 2019). In 1997, he received the Amadeo Souza-Cardoso Prize and, in 2002, the Revelation Prize of the Arpad Szenes – Vieira da Silva Foundation. His work is represented in various collections, such as the Bank of Spain (Madrid), Centro Galego de arte Contemporaneo (Santiago de Compostela), Arpad Szenes – Vieira da Silva Foundation (Lisbon), Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon), Contemporary Art National Museum (Lisbon), Sovereign Art Foundation (London) and PLMJ Collection (Lisbon).

 

FMV, October 2020