J. Eduardo's oil painting exhibition "Airs and Seas" pays tribute to the Algarve in Portimão

Following the success of the exhibition "100 years, 100 sardines" , the Multipurpose space at the Portimão Municipal Market opens, on August 9th, the exhibition "Airs and Seas", by the painter J. Eduardo, who maintains strong links to the Algarve.

It should be noted that this area of municipal equipment was refurbished to create conditions to host cultural and other initiatives in the same scope, with the intervention being completed and inaugurated in December 2024.

This is, therefore, the second exhibition on display after this intervention, in a bid by Portimão City Council to decentralize art and culture, reaching a wider target audience.

The Multipurpose space is located in a facility that, in the municipality, receives the largest number of citizens.

On a busy day, as is traditionally the case on Saturdays, this Municipal Market is frequented by an average of 5,500 people, who are also potential visitors to the initiatives presented here.

J. Eduardo's exhibition now presents a theme that is also close to the majority of this target audience, as the artist portrays the region on oil canvas, through the eyes and perspective of someone who admired and enjoyed the natural beauty of the Algarve, where light intersects with the colors of the sea and rocks, the sand of the beach and the smell of the sea air.

In the countryside, the gentle aroma of the rockroses, the beauty of the almond blossoms that covered the ground are, even today, part of his memories, feelings that he leaves expressed on the white canvases, with the help of the spatula.

It's a simple tribute to his Algarve, the one he remembers and continues to feel in his memories.

"My father is a bird of the world. If he hadn't flown across the air and sea to meet my mother, I wouldn't even exist. For me, there's no anchor safer than a hug from him. As a pilot, he soared through the skies, but it was through painting that he brought the horizon home," describes Mara Jesus, the artist's daughter, in a synopsis.

"When he picks up his palette, his soul spills over onto the canvas. The light and shadows, which only nature creates, are his muses. In each of his paintings, an inspiring window opens, overlooking the countryside or the sea. In this exhibition, the Algarve is painted in oil, with the love of those who grew up here," he adds.

The exhibition can be visited between August 9th and October 4th, from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The Portimão Municipal Market, located on Avenida São João de Deus, is closed on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.

About the author:

A self-taught painter, J. Eduardo is a pilot by profession and grew up in the Algarve. A lifelong lover of drawing, he created several works in charcoal and Indian ink, but it was in oil painting that he found one of his hobbies .

He experimented with this technique when he was 19, but two years later he joined the military and only returned to his passion in 1993. The following year, he opened his first solo exhibition in Lisbon, at the APPLA Gallery.

Some of his works were acquired by private collectors from several European countries and, during his career, there were also several solo exhibitions, between 1994 and 1996, at the APPLA Art Gallery and the Gan-Vie Art Gallery, both in Lisbon, at the Beatriz Costa Auditorium, in Mafra, and at the Jaime Lobo e Silva Cultural Center, in Ericeira.

He also exhibited in collective exhibitions, between 1994 and 2008, at events or venues such as the 3rd International Small Format Exhibition, the TAP Expoarte Grand Prize, the Air Force Academy (Sintra), and the Air Force General Staff (Alfragide), the IV Biennial of Figurative Art of Alenquer, the Salão Convívio Year 2006, at the National Society of Fine Arts, or the Paletro Art Gallery, in Coimbra.

Member of the National Society of Fine Arts, he is mentioned in the books «Aspects of Visual Arts III in Portugal», «Art 98» and «Yearbook of Visual Arts 2003», by Fernando Infante do Carmo.

It is also represented on the DVDs «Naturalism: Major Art Vol. 4 and 5» and «Figurative in the Plastic Arts in Portugal in the 21st Century», by Afonso Almeida Brandão.