Alberto Carneiro

Alberto Carneiro (S. Mamede do Coronado, Trofa 1937 – Porto, 2017) studied, between 1947 and 1958, the technologies of wood, stone and ivory at the religious art ateliers of his hometown, an initial experience that marked his subsequent artistic work. He studied Sculpture at the School of Fine Arts of Porto (1961-1967) and attended the St Martin’s School of Art (1968-1970), in London, where he had direct contact with emerging artistic trends, namely conceptual art and land art, which had a great influence on his work.

Alberto Carneiro is considered a pioneer of conceptual art in Portugal and throughout his career he developed a unique relationship between art and nature. The use of raw natural materials, the use of photography as a mediator of the subject’s relationship with nature and the anthropological and aesthetic approach to natural landscape are some of the means through which Carneiro contributed to the renewal of Portuguese sculpture that took place from the mid 1960s onwards.

His work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Portugal and other European countries, and the artist represented Portugal at the Paris (1969), Venice (1976) and São Paulo (1977) Biennales. His work Ser Árvore e Arte, 2000–02, is permanently installed at the Serralves Park, having been specifically conceived for that space.