About:

Henrique José Teixeira Matos (Porto, 18 June 1961) is a Portuguese painter particularly known for his Op Art paintings. He was born in Porto, Portugal, where he is currently living. Life and work Henrique Matos was born in Porto, Portugal. Meanwhile, from 1974 to 1980, he attended the Soares dos Reis School of Decorative Arts, where he was a student of Isolino Vaz. After that, he graduated in Painting in 1988 from the Superior School of Fine Arts of Porto, where he was a disciple of Álvaro Lapa, Amândio Silva, Sá Nogueira, Carlos Carreiro, Ângelo de Sousa and João Dixo. Earlier in 1981, Henrique Matos had his first collective exhibition and his first solo exhibition was in 1987. After that, he had several solo and collective exhibitions in Portugal, including in Porto (Mercado de Ferreira Borges), Matosinhos, Valongo, Fafe, Rio Tinto, Mosteiro de Arouca, Gondomar (Sala Júlio Resende), Praia de Mira (Ethnographic Museum) and Lisbon. During 1991 and 1993 he made an exhibition in France, at the Center Culturel Municipal de Fréjus and in Nice, at the Tropheé de la Primière Change – Quai des États-Unis (Ex-Aequeo First Prize), Galerie Art’Nold and at the 1st Prix Mossa Biennial – Galerie-Musée Alexis et Gustav-Adolf-Mossa. Meanwhile, in 1991 and 1992 he traveled to Morocco and in 1996 to Tunisia, having come into contact with Arab culture and art. Henrique Matos first produced Surrealist Paintings, also having evolved into an abstract theme. He produced works of landscape character as well as portraits of personalities, among which are the portraits of Alberto Jorge, João André, Pedro Abrunhosa, among others. He studied the cultures of the ancient Mayan and Egyptian civilizations consequently using his thematic paintings alluding to these classical civilizations. In addition, Henrique Matos visited Chichen Itza in 2007 and Luxor in 2008. His last stage of painting is in the style of Op Art, influenced by artists like Escher, Jesus Rafael Soto, Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley. Henrique Matos, in addition to the Fine Arts, also dedicates himself from his youth to historical, archaeological, artistic and political photography. As a result, he has published photographs of his authorship in several books and magazines in Portugal, Italy and Brazil. At this time he is represented in the art collections of the City Council of Gondomar and in the City Council of Fréjus.