Paulo Neves

Paulo Neves was born in Cucujães, Oliveira de Azeméis, in 1959. He studied Painting at the Escola Superior de Belas-Artes do Porto. Between 1978 and 1981 he lived and worked alongside a number of artists in several European countries, an experience that shaped the development of his artistic path.

He works in sculpture, drawing, ceramics and printmaking, with sculpture at the centre of his practice. Line and gesture play a structuring role in his work, which is frequently developed in wood and through carving processes that explore the relationship between matter, form and space.

Over more than four decades of activity he has held numerous solo exhibitions in Portugal and abroad. Among the most recent are those at the Art Consult Gallery, Hamburg (2019), Galeria São Mamede, Lisbon and Porto (2018), Zet Galeria, Braga (2018), Livraria Lello, Porto (2017), Fórum da Maia (2018), Museu de Pinhel (2019), Museu Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, Amarante (2010), Museu Alberto Sampaio, Guimarães (2006) and Museu de Lugo, Spain (2006).

He has also taken part in numerous group exhibitions, biennials and international sculpture symposia, including the Bienal Internacional de Arte de Cerveira, ARCO Madrid, the New York Independent Art Fair, the Bienal Internacional Fenosa, the Centro de Escultura de Candás in Spain, and various international symposia held in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Romania and other European countries.

His work is held in public and private collections in Portugal and abroad, and is represented in museums, institutions, public spaces, hotels, universities and corporate collections. These include the Museu de Arte Moderna do Porto, the Museu de Arte Moderna da Madeira, the Museu Alberto Sampaio, the Museu Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, the Fundação Jorge Antunes, the Universidade de Aveiro, the Santuário de Fátima and the SANA Hotels Group, as well as various collections and public spaces in Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Angola, Mozambique, Morocco and Romania.

He has received several distinctions over the course of his career, among them the Prémio Águas do Minho e Lima at the Bienal de Cerveira, the Acquisition Prize of the XIV Bienal de Cerveira (Fundação Eugénio de Almeida), First Prize for the Monumento ao Magriço (2000) and First Prize in the competition for the sculptural revitalisation of the historic centre of Viseu (1999).