CV

Born in Lisbon in 1965, lives and works in Estoril.

Luis Bivar is a Portuguese contemporary figurative artist who presently lives and works in Lisbon. He was an Art Director and won the first edition of the European Design Modulex Award, while painting and exhibiting his work.

His long-term pursuit on colour and comic strips had led him to establish himself successfully in Portugal as well as in Northern Europe. Greatly influenced by the Pop Art movement, his work reflects stereotyping in a unique manner that characterizes him well. Bivar also worked in several projects with artists Vitor Pires Vieira and Nikias Skapinakis, both of which were responsible for his presence in the contemporary art world.

Bivar makes a point of showing imperfection in his paintings for he believes that a work in progress should be spontaneous and that "error" is part of any artists' expression. He believes that new media is a permanent challenge and explores various techniques in his artwork drawing, mixed media and more recently, sculpting.

Private and public collections in Lisbon include: Champalimaud Foundation, Portuguese Aids Foundation, Banco Espirito Santo and Embassy for the Republic of Angola; also in Gortex Russia and AMEX Norway. Bivar is currently working on his latest collection "Face It".

ARTIST STATEMENT

"FACE IT represents a series of human emotions, dubious expressions that convey the awe I feel upon the mysterious feminine. It is an ongoing expression of human behaviour, which I have been developing over the past few years. As an observer, every woman tells a tale; a fantasy that may be reinvented by the spectator that does not necessarily meet my personal experiences. Emotions are rare these days in the cold grey era we are living and this collection is a call to face your emotions now. I picked large and medium formats where one can feel free to create powerful contrast combining graffiti, collage and black and white to enhance the coloured expressions. In these series, I only used comic strips on the eyes and mouth; two important elements that define the human expression."

Exhibitions

AWARDS

Modulex, finalist

Epal, finalist

Teresa Regojo Fundation, finalist

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2013 | Galeria Elisabeth Ramford, Oslo, Norway

2012 | Galeria Berinice Arvani, S.Paulo, Brasil

2012 | Galeria Joana-Arez-workink, Cascais - "Face It"

2011 | Fundacao Champalimaud, Lisbon, Portugal

2010 | Chiado trendi, Lisbon, Portugal

2008 | Ferin, Lisbon, Portugal

2007 | Galeria Art Form, Estoril, Portugal

2007 | Soc. Portuguesa de Oftalmologia

2007 | Campeonato Mundial de Vela, Cascais, Portugal

2006 | Quebramar/Chrysler, Cascais, Portugal

2006 | Museu Caves Calem, Porto, Portugal

2005 | Quebramar/Chrysler, Cascais, Portugal

2005 | Museu da Agua, Epal-Lisbon, Portugal

2003 | Galeria Art Form, Estoril, Portugal

2002 | Quebramar/Chrysler, Cascais, Portugal

2001 | Galeria La Villa, Estoril, Portugal

2000 | Galeria La Villa, Estoril, Portugal

1998 | Museu do Brinquedo, Sintra, Portugal

1997 | Galeria La Villa, Estoril, Portugal

1996 | Galeria Janela Verde, Lisbon, Portugal

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2013 | Affordable Art Fair Stockholm, Sweden

2013 | Affordable Art Fair Hamburg, Germany

2013 | Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2013 | Affordable Art Fair Singapore

2013 | Asia Contemporary, Hong Kong

2013 | Copenhagen Art Fair, Copenhagen

2013 | Galeria Elisabeth Ramford, Oslo, Norway

2009 | Exposicao Fundacao Teresa Regojo, Lisbon, Portugal

2008 | Exposicao Galeria LM, Sintra

2008 | Exposicao Camara Municipal das Caldas da Rainha

2006 | Exposicao Chiado 57, Lisbon, Portugal

2005 | Galeria Art Form, Estoril, Portugal

2000 | Galeria La Villa, Estoril, Portugal