What immediately strikes from Goncalo Preto’s production it’s how his sophisticated pictorial technique is applied to the creation of situations that are often embedded with a tense atmosphere, as parts of disconnected narratives that compose the whole visual world of the artist. Since his second solo show, Middle Finger Pedestrians, presented at the gallery in November 2019, the artist started a new series of paintings originated by the interest in the representation of dim environments, focusing on the portrayal of different light sources and on how the observer's eye adapts to the blackness of the different represented scenes. His most recent works show a development in this research about vision where the artist plays with our vision and its reaction to light, focus, proximity, abstraction and the mysterious creation scenes that seem to belong to everybody’s lost memories.
Gonçalo Preto was born in Lisbon, in 1991 and he lives and works in Providence (Rhode Island, USA).
He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon (2009-2012), the Kassel Kunsthochschule in Kassel (2011-2012) and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco (2014-2015). Currently, he is completing his MFA in Painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI, USA (2022-2024).
Preto is the recipient of the Fullbright Scholarship, with the support of Fundação Carmona e Costa (Lisbon).
Solo and two-persons exhibitions include: Untitled, with Santiago Reyes Villaveces, Ncontemporary Project Room, Milan (2020); Middle Finger Pedestrians, Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon (2019); LIMBO, Museu Carlos Machado, Ponta Delgada, Azores (2019); FRAG-MEN-TO, MADRAGOA ENCIMA, Galeria Madragoa; Lisbon (2017).
Recent group exhibitions include: Hyperballads, Fabric Arts Festival, Fall River (2023); Bucket List, Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon (2023); Pintura sem fim, Brotéria, Lisbon (2023); Outras Lembranças, Outros Enredos, Cordoaria Nacional, Lisbon (2022); EMBORA: Live Viewing Room, with Madragoa, Rome (2021); CABINET, Museu Nacional de História Natural e Ciência, Lisbon (2019); Active Synthesis, Forum Arte Braga, Braga (2019); There will never be a door. You are inside, Collection Teixeira de Freitas, Fundación Santander, Madrid (2019); COLA CUSPO, Espaço AZ, Lisbon (2018); Nome do Meio, Moradia, Lisbon (2018) Approx, Galeria Madragoa at Sadie Coles HQ, The Shop, London (2018), SEVER, Galeria Boavista, Lisbon (2017); Blue, The Switch Gallery, Lisbon (2016); Babel, Miguel Justino Contemporary Art, Lisbon (2016); 4, Cidadela Art District, Cascais (2015).
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
January 17th - March 9th 2024
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
January 17th - March 9th 2024
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
November 16th, 2019 - January 11th, 2020
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
November 16th, 2019 - January 11th, 2020
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
November 16th, 2019 - January 11th, 2020
Cabinet
Installation view at Museu Nacional de História Natural e Ciência, Lisbon, Portugal
September 13th – 30th, 2019
Cabinet
Installation view at Museu Nacional de História Natural e Ciência, Lisbon, Portugal
September 13th – 30th, 2019
Cabinet
Installation view at Museu Nacional de História Natural e Ciência, Lisbon, Portugal
September 13th – 30th, 2019
Limbo
Installation view at Museu Carlo Machado - Nucleo de Santo Andre, Walk & Talk, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal
July 6th - 20th, 2019
Installation view at Madragoa at Art-O-Rama, Marseille, France
August 31st - September 2nd, 2018
Installation view at Madragoa at CONDO London 2018 hosted by Sadie Coles HQ, The Shop, London, United Kingdom
January 13th – February 10th, 2018
Installation view at SWAB, Barcelona 2017
September 28th - October 1st, 2017
SEVER
Installation view at Galeria da Boavista, Lisbon, Portugal
July 21st - October 1st, 2017
Installation view at Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
March 23rd - May 6th, 2017
Installation view at Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
March 23rd - May 6th, 2017
Installation view at Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
March 23rd - May 6th, 2017