Miguel Branco
ArtSway: 12 May - 23 June 2001
Untitled, 2001, Oil on Wood, 9.5cm x 10.5cm
ArtSway is pleased to present the first exhibition in the UK of this emerging artist from Portugal. Based in Lisbon, Branco is developing a highly regarded reputation for his small, intense paintings. He has shown extensively in Portugal and abroad and will contribute work to a major exhibition of Portuguese artists in San Fransisco later this year. Miguel Branco's small paintings evoke references to Old Masters such as Rembrandt and Goya while retaining a very modern sensibility. Painted in oil on wooden blocks the materials and methods link the work to past traditions, however the scale, construction and composition are distinctly contemporary.
Although many of the works allude to romantic fifures (well dressed courtiers and clowns), they are anonymous, ethereal, isolated in the picture frame from any narrative or context, far away from any celebration of the individual. The scale of these works invites an intimacy not recipricated by the content - a challenging relationship which lends an element of melancholy to the work. However these works also include a high humour and the two together encourage a contemplative response to the work.
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