Narciso Conillo Martins

Born in 1963, Conillo has lived mostly in São Paulo and has studios in São Paulo and Porto, Portugal. He studied at the Panamerican Art School, the Liceu de Artes e Officio in São Paulo and in the Prado, Madrid. In 1985 became Curator of Art and supervisor of restoration of paintings at a São Paulo museum. He carried out extensive research into art and travelled abroad widely, meeting with many artists. This experience led him to produce four books between 1987-1993 on Brazilian and international art. Since 1993 Conillo has dedicated himself full time to his painting.

During his years of study and career development Conillo experimented with various styles and techniques. Early landscapes show the influence of Constable and Turner, a figurative phase approaches the style of Picasso and he explored impressionist and expressionist styles in water colours and oils on canvas and wood. Around 1990 he began to paint the abstracts for which he is now widely recognized.

Riccardo Stoeckichi of the Latin American Art Center in Washington described Conillo’s work as “conveying harmony and the opposites he sees, tensions and resolutions, joining peace and conflict, creating depth and perspective”  “The observer notes particularly the balance of the forms, the reciprocal bright and shade and the freedom of juxtaposition of colours”.

Conillo’s abstracts are spontaneous and impulsive interpretations of scenes and pictures. He is inspired by nature and often paints in an atelier in a wilderness area of Brazil with panoramic views. Some of his abstracts are re-interpretations of paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Picasso and others, inspired during a period of study and painting in Madrid in 1996. He painted his ‘first re-interpretations’ during his visits to the Prado. These and other works are catalogued in ‘Secret Garden’ published by the Contorno gallery in 2001.

During a visit to Rome the cinematographer Frederico Fellini encouraged Conillo to exhibit more widely in Europe; his art has now been shown in over 100 individual and collective exhibitions in Brazil, Europe, the United States and Japan.

Narciso Conillo; Selected International Exhibitions

Individual Exhibitions

1993 - Real Seguros Gallery, Braga, Portugal.
          - Zamorano Gallery, Colombia.
1994 - Giovani Machia Gallery, Rome, Italy.
1995 - Century XVII Gallery, Leiria, Portugal.
          - Figueira Da Foz Casino Gallery, Portugal.
          - Parlatório Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal.
1996 - Vilalba Villien, Barcelona, Spain.
          - Almacem Gallery, Oporto, Portugal.
         - Grade Gallery, Aveiro, Portugal.
1998 - Miron Art Galerry, Valodolid, Spain.
         - Expo 1998, Lisbon, Portugal.
1999 - Over Side Latin American Art, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

2001 - Latin American Art, Washington, U.S.A.
         - Almacem Gallery, Oporto, Portugal.

Collective Exhibitions

1987 - Grinter Gallery, Tampa, Florida, USA.
1989 - Bunkio Salon, Tokyo, Japan.
1993 - Cassino Sol Verde, Espinho, Portugal.
1994 - “Brazilian Artists”, Gallery Capitolio, Porto, Portugal.
         - Calcata gallery, Rome, Italy.
1995 - Orixás Gallery, Sintra, Portugal.
         - Gallery séc. XVII, Leiria, Portugal.
         - Gallery G, Lisboa, Portugal.
1996 - Gallery Belo Belo, Braga, Portugal.
         - Grade Gallery, Aveiro, Portugal.
1997 - Gallery Torres Barbara, Porto, Portugal.
1999 - “Fanny By Art” Coral Gables, Miami, USA.
         - Grim Gallery, London.
2000 - Latin American Art, Washington, EUA.

2005 – Puro Arte Ehibition, Vigo, Spain