Pedro Proença

PEDRO PROENÇA (Angola, 1962)
"Sheat actions", 1987.
Acrylic on canvas.
Work exhibited at the Fúcares Gallery: "Pedro Proença", Madrid May-June 1987.
Bibliography: Kevin Power, "Pedro Proença", Ed. Galería Fúcares, Madrid 1987, reproduced on page 8.
Presents remains of label on the back.
Signed, dated and titled on the back.
Measurements: 30,5 x 21 cm.
Pedro Proença is a Portuguese painter born in 1962 in Lubngo, Angola. He received his artistic training at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas-Artes and at the Escola Superior de Belas-Artes de Lisboa. In 1984 he had his first exhibition, which was followed by other important exhibitions, both collective and individual, in Portugal and abroad. He also participates in the exhibitions of the group "Homeostéticos", of which he was one of the founders together with other artists such as Miguel Vieria, Xana or Pedro Portugal. His first works, made in pencil and wax on small format supports, already announce a preference for design to the detriment of painting. From the 80's onwards, his designs made with brush represent human figures of allegorical and mythical character, very close to the Greco-Latin ideology, ironically combined with complex elements of mannerist and baroque evocation. His artistic expression, based on images and allegories, appears applied on large surfaces using plain colors, always associated with the ornaments that compartmentalize the space. Trunks, roots, stems or simple lines occupy the base of his paintings, or are treated in isolation, confronting the signs that occupy most of the pictorial space. Another characteristic of Proença's works is the coexistence of areas of rough chromatism with other completely smooth areas, where words associated with the design itself also appear. In recent years, the author has created his works according to the exhibition areas, as shown in the installation at the headquarters of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, a work for which he won the Union Latina de Pintura Prize in 1994.