Francisco Vidal
Artist of the Month
Francisco Vidal was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1978, lives and works between Luanda and Lisbon.
He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University in New York, United States of America in 2010, after having obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from the Superior School of Arts and Design in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal in 2002, and having completed the Independent Study Program at Mamaus School of Visual Arts in Lisbon, Portugal in 2005.
Francisco Vidal is renowned for his handmade paintings and drawings on paper and canvas, often assembled to create large-scale installations.
The artist’s work uniquely combines various aesthetic influences, including Cubism, African textiles and 1980s hip-hop culture, as well as contemporary graffiti and street art.
Born in Portugal to Angolan and Cape Verdean parents, the artist works with ideas that are closely linked to the experience of the diaspora, exploring narratives linked to identity that derive from cross-cultural education.
Colonial history and its consequences are deeply questioned in his work, with a strong emphasis on the impact of labor practices, conflicts and violence.
Recent solo exhibitions include Nova Angola, Memorial Dr. António Agostinho Neto, Luanda, Angola (2018); Alter Ego, Meeting in Macau, Sino-Lusophone Cultural and Arts Festival, Macau (2018); Studio, Lumiar Cité, Maumaus School of Visual Arts, Lisbon, Portugal (2017); Luuanda Rising, Studio Wozen, Lisbon, Portugal (2017); a solo project in Focus: African Perspectives, The Armory Show, New York, NY, USA (2016); Utopia Luanda Experience – Architecture of Peace, Baginski Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal (2016); Maianga Mutamba Workshop, Tiwani Contemporary, London, UK (2015); and Água e Luz, Instituto Camões, Luanda, Angola (2014).
The artist was part of the Angola National Pavilion for the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, as well as Expo Milan 2015, Milan, Italy. In 2017, his work was exhibited as part of the Afropolitan Festival in Bozar in Brussels, Belgium, and in 2018, his work was included in the Encuentro em Macau, the Sino-Lusophone Cultural and Art Festival. Other group exhibitions include Artes Mirabilis, UCCLA – União das Capital Cities of Portuguese Language, Lisbon, Portugal (2018); Metamorphosis, Jahmek Contemporânea, Luanda, Angola (2018); Portugal-Portuguese, Afrobrasil Museum, São Paulo, Brazil (2016); and Glocal – At the Regional of a Space Without Borders, Estúdio Wozen, Lisbon, Portugal (2016).
Vidal’s work includes Portuguese collections such as the EDP Foundation, the PLMJ Foundation, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, as well as the Scheryn Art Collection in South Africa.
Since 2021 she has been represented by the THIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE gallery.