Fernando Gaspar
Painter. A self-taught artist exploring themes of identity and belonging, Fernando Gaspar tells stories and recounts journeys through his work.
about ARTIST
Fernando's inspirations
A self-taught visual artist, Gaspar started his career through the practice of drawing and watercolor. Entirely devoted to the activity since 1986, the year he first participated in exhibitions and awards, he regularly exhibits in the major cities of Portugal, exploring and adopting other media, materials and techniques. His first solo exhibition outside Portugal occurred in 1995 in Belgium.
What does he create now
He has gathered a few national awards, participated in more than 40 group exhibitions in Europe, Asia, and North America, and held over 35 solo exhibitions in Portugal and other European countries. Throughout the past 30 years, the character of his work has evolved towards an increasingly reflective and contemporary approach.
Individual exhibitions
Works sold
Awards
"As a person and as an artist, I feel like this: in between, between. And my painting or what remains of it, apocathastic, apocalyptic, revealed, thing or nothing, is no more than the visible essay of this being, of this being so. School orphan, wild and stubborn, is born and thriving on the sweet surfaces of the paper, in the tensions of a woven linen, worked stand, palimpsest care as if smoothing the place for a ceremony. One by one, single as the first, as accomplices as a child, are always the sum of what precedes them, ways to open to the next, pieces that do not altogether separate by any universal law. It is an exercise of mine, an intimate thing that makes me understand, in order to understand myself in this kind of delusion, so deliciously."
SaLONOU, ONLY THE BEST-QUALITY ART
Underscoring similarities
Gaspar’s painting, sculpture, and poetry are rooted in a fascination with the concept of territorial identity. His paintings examine the relationship between brushstrokes rather than color relationships.
Artist's inspirations
Own language
Just as identity is determined by language and a sense of belonging, Gaspar attempts to reveal identifying marks and underscore similarities. “Argonauts” (2013), for example, is a series of oversized iron helmets inspired by the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts. The helmets are stand-ins for the heroes, encapsulating the entire tale, the figures, and their values
Fernando's media
- Painting
- Acrylic on canvas
