Born 1977 in Lisbon, Portugal
Lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal and Vienna, Austria
The painting of Rui Miguel Leitão Ferreira consists of a delicate balance between what is stated and what happens. With foundations that are simultaneously both profoundly physical as well as spiritual, his work is a development of the intersection of different forms, rhythms, and ways of doing. Medium, material and action come together in a dialogue which is both thoughtful and intuitive, focussing on the relationship between the act of making marks on the canvas, the outcome of those marks, and what we make of what appears. With its criss-cross of overlapping layers, the dialogue shows us the desire of the artist to make a mark – applying the paint directly to the canvas, accepting the unknown result – when he covers, stamps, strips and lays bare the various layers of which the painting consists.
Highly physical in both structure and image, the works of Rui Ferreira emanate a density which breathe life. A density that comes from careful manipulation of his choice of materials, with recognition of their thickness, elasticity, opacity, and chemical reaction, as well as in his observation of the image and detailed understanding of what it is. To speak of the density of the painting and its inherent complexity leads us to notice the disarming simplicity of the production process, which embraces the accidental, the unforeseen and the uncontrollable. His work can be seen as a set of forces in balance, of desire and acceptance, of material and image, the complex and the simple.
(Excerpts from “Neither Valley Nor Mountain” Sérgio Fazenda Rodrigues)
In 2012, Rui Miguel Leitão Ferreira got an MA in Fine Arts, at Goldsmiths University of London, and in 2005 a BA in painting, at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Lisbon. His latest exhibitions include the MU.SA (Sintra Museum of Arts), 2021, Galeria 111, 2020 (solo), Low Gallery, Kondres, UK (2019), AIR-Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna, Austria (2019), in 2023 his works will be exhibited at the Mind Set Art Center, Taipei City, Taiwan and The Sunday Painter Gallery , London; his first solo show New Paintings from the Lake at Galerie Krinzinger Showroom will be on view until March 11, 2023 in Vienna.
His works are in many public collections, such as Yuan Art Collection, Switzerland; PLMJ, Portugal; AIP – Associação Industrial Portuguesa, Portugal; Fidelidade Seguros, Portugal; Re – Mútua del Carme – Granollers, Spain; CAMB – Oeiras, Portugal; Colección Navacerrada, Spain.
