Vibrant colours and textures define the work of artist Gonçalo Malato—a permanent essay on emotion and energy. A selection from his body of work, which comprises over 300 paintings, will be displayed at the Lisbon City Foundation in a posthumous exhibition opening on 15 December.

The exhibition, “Manipanzo o outro eu” (Manipanzo the other self), is held to mark the first anniversary of the artist’s passing and aims to introduce his work to the wider public.

Curated by Carmen Bioque Zurita, art historian and friend of the artist, the exhibition also features the participation of Eric Corne, a renowned artist and curator who founded the le Plateau Contemporary Art Centre in Paris. Corne has curated numerous exhibitions at prestigious institutions, including the Berardo Collection Museum in Lisbon, MASP in São Paulo, and IVAM Valencia (featuring Maria Helena Vieira da Silva and Joaquin Torres Garcia). The project also involves Rita Lougares, Director and Curator of the Berardo Collection Museum, and exhibition designer Maria João Mântua.

According to curator Carmen Bioque Zurita, what stands out in Gonçalo’s work is “his intelligence in the use of colour. In all of Gonçalo Malato’s works, there is a balance of colours and volumes that guides the viewer’s gaze from the detail to the general and back again, in a circular fashion. One can sense different, somewhat polarised moments: from agitation to calm, from rapture to chaos, and then to order.”

About the Artist

A Fundação Cidade de Lisboa apresenta de 15 a 21 de dezembro a exposição de Gonçalo Malato “Manipanzo O Outro Eu”

Gonçalo Malato was born on 12 January 1995. Although he graduated in Management from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, he never practised the profession, instead devoting himself entirely to his true passion: painting. Described as joyful and witty with a unique sense of humour, Gonçalo saw the internal beauty in everyone, championing the fragile and the different. He loathed societal hypocrisy and dreamed of a world where money was not the primary driver of existence. On 9 December 2021, his journey ended at just 26 years old.

Carmen Bioque Zurita:

“Gonçalo Malato mastered everything from the most meticulous, deliberate lines to the most agitated and violent strokes. There is an abstract impulse in everything he does, but it is an abstraction that becomes organic—searching for a figure, grazing it, and ultimately constructing it almost by chance.”

Rita Lougares:

“His work displays a constant rebellion against rigid artistic conventions. His production was diverse and open to the world… The notions of the abstract and the real become blurred, allowing one to recognise a presence within the absence.”

Eric Corne:

“The work of Gonçalo Malato expresses raw energy and feelings. He grants freedom to colour and line, echoing the gestural painting movements of the 20th century… This existential desire to let forms, rhythms, and light emerge proves that Gonçalo Malato was, definitively, an artist.”

Exhibition Details

  • Title: Gonçalo Malato, “Manipanzo o outro eu”

  • Dates: 15 to 21 December

  • Opening Times: * Inauguration: 15 December from 5:00 pm

    • Weekdays: 11:00 am to 8:00 pm

    • Saturday & Sunday: 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm

  • Location: Lisbon City Foundation (Fundação Cidade de Lisboa)

    • Campo Grande 380, 1700-097 Lisbon

  • Entry: Free

  • Contact: Inês Sampayo (+351) 961 313 498