![Juliao Sarmento Sean Kelly Gallery](https://img.artlogic.net/w_660,h_660,c_limit/exhibit-e/62f52bf90af321abff00fe82/ca0aeaba7c8bed8bbd23b2782b6aea6e.jpeg)
Big Easy, 2014
three-dimensional expanded polystyrene print, metal, shipping pallets, six chairs, acrylic tempera on paper
dimensions variable
unique
JS-2311
(1948 - 2021)
Photo by Paulo Pires
Julião Sarmento (1948 – 2021) was born in Lisbon, Portugal. From 1967-1970 he studied painting and architecture at the Escola Superior de Belas Artes, Lisbon, where he also received his Master's degree in 1976.
Sarmento has developed a multi-media visual language, combining film, video, sound, painting, sculpture and installations. Sarmento's work often deals with issues of complex interpersonal relationships; it has consistently utilized themes such as psychological interaction, sensuality, voyeurism and transgression.
Sarmento is well-known for his thickly impastoed, textured paintings where the paint field forms a ground from which he teases out his imagery in graphite, reversing the traditional basis of painting. His imagery is often partially or fully erased. He then draws on top of the erasure, creating fragmented and layered forms, which evoke disconcerting, mysterious gestures and relationships.
Sarmento has exhibited extensively worldwide since 1979. He has been included in two Documentas and has represented Portugal in two Venice Biennales. His work is represented in public and private collections worldwide such as: the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Musée National d'Art Moderne Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Holland; the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan; and the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico.
In 2012, Sarmento was the subject of an extensive retrospective exhibition, titled White Nights, at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto, Portugal. The exhibition was accompanied by a major monographic publication on the work of Sarmento, co-published by the museum and Hatje Cantz. The book features works from the late 1960s until the present and is illustrated with all the works that were on display in the exhibition.
For more information, please visit www.juliaosarmento.com.
Centro Galego de Arte Contemporáneo: Julião Sarmento. Without, November 9, 2018
The Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain (MAMAC) in Nice will present Julião Sarmento, a comprehensive solo exhibition of the artist's work. The exhibition, curated by Gilbert Perlein, will be on view from June 28 to November 30, 2014.
Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, GAM, will present a special exhibition, Julião Sarmento: Lo Sguardo Selettivo, from June 13 to August 31, 2014 as the third chapter of their Analects series.
The exhibition, entitled INDEX, is curated by João Silvério and features important historical works from the artist's oeuvre as well as new work, including a performance that Sarmento created specifically for the exhibition.
The National Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico will present Julião Sarmento's first solo exhibition in the country at the Carrillo Gil Museum of Art.
The Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto, Portugal will mount the most extensive retrospective exhibition to date of the work of Julião Sarmento. Titled White Nights, the exhibition will feature work in a diverse range of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, video and performance exploring themes of eroticism and sexuality and questioning concepts such as desire, absence, time and language. In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition, Sarmento will present a series of performances by leading figures from the worlds of fashion, dance and other performing arts specifically designed for this occasion in the Serralves Villa. White Nights, curated by James Lingwood and João Fernandes, will be on view from November 23, 2012 through February 24, 2013.
Julião Sarmento is part the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture's video project, Commercial Break, which debuted at this year's Venice Bienniale and will be on view for Brooklyn's Bring to Light celebration.
The exhibition includes film, sculpture, a performance, drawings and paintings, the works in the exhibition will be shown in Spain for the first time.