José de Guimarães

The work of José de Guimarães proposes crossovers with the art of African, Chinese and Mesoamerican civilizations, in a never-ending search for non-verbal relationships, which is also reflected in his practice as a collector on which he has been focusing for several decades.

A stay in Angola during the 1960s and 1970s was to become a determining vector in defining his artistic vocabulary, driven by an effort to create an osmosis between two forms of visual expression, European and African. Yet, if the first decade of artistic production was based in Africa, his more than forty years of work displays complete series focused on the Chinese and Japanese cultures, on the art of Rubens, the literature of Camões and the unique conception of death in Mexico. In the last few years, his path has reflected a tendentiously cosmopolitan vocation of forms and figures.

His visual expression has privileged the light of neons and LEDs, especially in his wooden boxes, which propose an exterior of austerity in contrast with the scenographic setting of their interior space, fitted out with the luminous strokes of neons and LEDs, painting, collages and objects deflected from the meaning conferred by their traditional function.

Having held a vast number of exhibitions in several countries, he has been subject of several anthological or retrospective exhibitions in Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Brazil, Angola, China and Japan.

CV

Solo Exhibitions (selection)

2014 — Contact Proof: The stencil to the digital: image transferring processes, Teatro Municipal da Guarda, Guarda, Portugal
2016 — Pigmalião, Galeria Sala 117, Porto, Portugal
2015 — Pinturas: Suites Monumentais e Algumas Variações, Centro Internacional das Artes José de Guimarães, Guimarães, Portugal
2019 — Volta ao Mundo, Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal
2018 — José de Guimarães and Africa, Ichihara Lakeside Museum, Chiba, Japan
2020 — Dioramas, Projeto Travessa da Ermida, Lisbon, Portugal
2009 — … Quarenta Anos depois, Instituto Camões, Luanda, Angola
2014 — A serpente no imaginário artístico, Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo, Brasil
2012 — Von Kopf bis Fub (From Head to Toe) – Human Images in the Focus of the Würth Collection, Museu Würth, Kunsthalle Würth, Schwäbisch Hall, Germany
2011 — Album Inframonde et Gouaches, Galerie Flora J., Paris, France
2010 — José de Guimarães, obras públicas no Japão, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal
2008 — Brasil, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon, Portugal
2007 — China-África-América (obras dos últimos dez anos), Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2006 — Africanias, Festival Internacional do Teatro de Almada, Casa da Cerca, Almada, Portugal
2016 — Esconjurações , Galeria Millennium, Fundação Millennium bcp, Lisbon, Portugal
2018 — A MUSEUM FROM ANOTHER WORLD, Fundação Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal
2020 — José de Guimarães: From Artist to Anthropologist. The Würth collection and works on loan, Forum Würth Rorschach, Rorschach, Switzerland
2012, Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou, China
2006 — África e Africanias de José de Guimarães, Museu Afro-Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil
2014 — O ritual da serpente , Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo, Brasil
2011 — Bronzes e Jades da China Antiga na Colecção José de Guimarães, Centro Cultural e Científico de Macau, Lisbon, Portugal
2010 — José de Guimarães, Arte Pública, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Viana do Castelo, Portugal
2009 — Série África-Brasil, Galeria Winter, Wiesbaden, Germany
2008 — Vozes Nómadas, Edifício Chiado, Coimbra, Portugal
2007 — Mimésis, Galeria San Carlo, Milan, Italy
2019 — José de Guimarães. Collection Würth et Prêts, Musée Würth, Erstein, France
2014 — Provas de contacto, QuARTel – Galeria Municipal de Arte, Abrantes, Portugal
2007 — Les Voix Nomades, Parc Européen pour Sculpture (Parc Tournay-Solvay), Brussels, Belgium
2011 — Viagem ao Japão, Galeria Municipal, Tomar, Portugal
2012 — Metropolis – Cities and Citizens, Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou, China
2010 — Mondi, Corpo e Anima, Würth Capena, Capena, Italy
2008 — Arte Urbana, Design Center, Lisbon, Portugal
2014 — Tattoos - Recent works, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Porto, Portugal
2012 — José de Guimarães, retrospektive, 1990-2012, Galerie Winter, Wiesbaden, Germany
2008 — José de Guimarães, Mundos, Cuerpo y Alma, Museu Wurth, La Rioja, Spain
2014 — Provas de Contacto, CIAJG, Guimarães, Portugal
2012 — Gruta e Crânio, Fundação Carmona e Costa, Lisbon, Portugal
2012 — Metropolis – Cities and Citizens, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium
2012 — Dialogo com o Imperador Qin, Itinerant exhibition, several museums, Europe/ China

Group Exhibitions (selection)

2016 — Portugal Portugueses, Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil
2019 — European Dream: Works from the Norlinda and José Lima Collection, Centro de Cultura Contemporânea de Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco, Portugal
2017 — Dialogue with Emperor Qin, Antwerp Port, Antwerp, Belgium
2018 — LandArt Cascais 2018, Quinta do Pisão, Cascais, Portugal
2021 — Desenhos na Areia, Centro Português de Serigrafia, CCB, Lisbon, Portugal
2022 — Artists, Heritage and the Museum, Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Lisbon, Portugal
2011 — 30 Anos de Prémio AICA/MC, Museu do Chiado, Lisbon, Portugal
2012 — The Art of Weaving – Tradition and Modernity, São Paulo, Brazil
2013 — Hidden Treasures, Galerie Atlantis, Stuttgart, Germany
2010 — Elos da lusofonia, Museu de História do Rio de Janeiro/ Museu afro-brasil, Rio de Janeiro/ São Paulo, Brazil
2009 — Serralves 2009 – A Colecção, Museu de Serralves, Porto, Portugal
2007 — Bienal São Paulo-Valência, Valencia, Spain
2018 — Post-Pop. Beyond the commonplace, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
2012 — Face to Face, Musée Royal de Beaux Arts, Brussels, Belgium
2013 — Cities and citizens, Shaanxi Art Museum, China
2010 — The Ear of Giacometti, Levy Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
2009 — Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2007 — Figura Humana e Abstração, Exposição Internacional de Escultura, Museu Würth, La Rioja, Spain
2011 — Art Karlsruhe 2011, Karlsruhe, Germany
2012 — Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2012, Echigo-Tsumari region, Japan
2013 — The Würth Collection, Forum Würth, Rorschach, Switzerland
2011, Galeria Baudoin Lebon, Paris, France
2010 — Negreiros e Guaranis, Palácio Fonte da Pipa/ Convento do Espirito Santo, Loulé, Portugal
2007 — De cá para lá e de lá para cá, Galeria Bernardo Marques, Lisbon, Portugal
2011 — Arte e Peregrinação, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal
2010 — Setouchi International Art Festival, Japan
2010 — Under de influence of Fashion and Finance, Malibu, USA

Awards

2004, Golden medal by the Portuguese government for the realization of the Portugal’s tourism symbol
1998, Prémio de Pintura Órtega Muñoz da Caixa da Extremadura, Spain
1997, Honorable Mention, Exposição Nacional de Gravura, Portugal
1990, Awarded with Grau de Comendador da Ordem Infante D. Henrique, Braga, Portugal
1989, Honorable Mention, Exposição Bienal de Escultura, Óbidos, Portugal
1986, Grande Prémio, 9ª Exposição Bienal Internacional Artes Plásticas, Barcelona, Spain
1984, Prémio Orwell, Centro de Arte Moderna, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal
1978, Bronze medal, Prix d’Europe de peinture de la Ville d’Ostende, Belgium
2008, Prémio de escultura Doutor Gustavo Cordeiro Ramos da Academia Nacional Belas Artes, Portugal
1968, 1st Prize Engraving, Luanda, Angola
1967, 1st Prize Engraving, Universidade de Luanda, Angola
1967, 1st Prize Engraving, Luanda, Angola
1965, 2nd Prize Engraving, Estoril, Portugal
2009, Grã-Cruz da Ordem de Mérito, Portugal
1992, Prémio Artes Plásticas, AICA, Portugal
1991, Troféu Arte e Desporto, Comité Olímpico Internacional, Portugal
1989, Medalha de Mérito Artístico da Cidade de Guimarães, Portugal
1980, Bronze medal, Prix d’Europe de peinture de la Ville d’Ostende, Belgium
1982, Honorable Mention, Salão do Pequeno Formato, Lisbon, Portugal
2001, Career Prize, Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores, Portugal
2019, GQ Men of the Year Awards
2019, Career Prize, Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores, Portugal