The SELO // ARTE project continues to establish itself as a platform for the recognition and promotion of contemporary Portuguese art, fostering a dialogue between artistic creation and the historic mission of CTT Correios de Portugal to promote circulation, connection and communication between regions, communities and cultures. In this third edition, the series focuses on a group of artists whose work has achieved widespread international recognition, making a decisive contribution to the establishment of Portuguese art on the global contemporary scene.
This selection brings together works by Leonor Antunes, Carlos Bunga, Luísa Jacinto, Mónica de Miranda, Julião Sarmento (In Memoriam) and Vhils, artists with singular careers that reflect the diversity, complexity and constant renewal of contemporary artistic practices, through a wide variety of languages and media such as painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, video and interventions in public spaces.
Through the creation of this stamps’ series, CTT recognises the contribution of artists who, working from Portugal, have played an active part in building a cultural heritage of international significance, reinforcing the role of art as a means of knowledge, dialogue and representation of Portugal in the world. The stamp as a symbol of culture.
Verónica de Mello Project Curator
LEONOR ANTUNES (Lisbon, 1972)
She lives and works in Berlin. Since her first solo exhibition, she has developed a career focused on sculpture, installation and drawing, exploring themes such as architecture, memory, space and modernist design. She uses materials such as wood, leather, brass, rope and cork, reinterpreting the legacy of 20th-century architects and designers.
She represented Portugal at the 58th Venice Biennale (2019) and has held exhibitions at institutions such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2011), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2016) and the Whitechapel Gallery, London (2017). She was awarded the EDP Foundation – New Artists Prize (2001) and her work is held in major international public and private collections.
CARLOS BUNGA (Porto, 1976)
He lives and works in Barcelona. Since the early 2000s, he has developed a multidisciplinary work, relying on drawing, painting, sculpture and installation. He explores themes such as architecture, memory and impermanence, as well as personal and collective pasts, often using fragile and perishable materials such as cardboard, adhesive tape and paint.
He took part in the 27th São Paulo Biennial (2006) and the 16th Sydney Biennale (2008), holding exhibitions at institutions such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2009), the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2011), and the MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon (2024). His work features in major public and private collections, such as that of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
LUÍSA JACINTO (Lisbon, 1984)
She lives and works in Lisbon. From the outset of her career, she has developed an artistic practice centred on painting and sculpture, exploring the conventions of the image, the fragmentation of narrative, simulation, and the relationship between evidence and concealment. Her work investigates the limits of representation and perception through a pictorial language characterised by the superimposition of forms and visual ambiguity. She has held solo exhibitions at institutions and galleries such as MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (2024), Galeria Quadrado Azul (2022) and Artworks (2019) in Lisbon; and Galería Silvestre in Madrid (2018). She has taken part in various group exhibitions in Portugal and abroad, including the Berardo Collection Museum, Lisbon (2019), the ASC Gallery, London (2019), and the Fosun Foundation, Shanghai (2018).
MÓNICA DE MIRANDA (Porto, 1976)
She lives and works in Lisbon. Since the early 2000s, she has developed a multidisciplinary work, using photography, video, drawing, installation and cinema. She explores themes such as identity, the African diaspora, memory, migration and the legacy of colonialism. She took part in the 56th Venice Biennale (2015) and the 12th Dakar Biennale – Dak’Art (2016), and represented Portugal at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024) with the project Greenhouse. She has held exhibitions at institutions such as the National Museum of Contemporary Art – Chiado Museum and the MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, in Lisbon. She was awarded the Novo Banco Revelation Prize (2019) and is the founder of Hangar – Centre for Artistic Research (2014).
JULIÃO SARMENTO (Lisbon, 1948–2021)
He lived and worked in Lisbon. Since his first solo exhibition, in 1971, he developed a multifaceted work, using painting, drawing, photography, video, sculpture and installation. He explored themes such as desire, memory, identity and representation, combining images, texts and literary and cinematographic references. With a career spanning more than five decades, Sarmento will always be a leading figure in Portuguese contemporary art. He took part in Documenta 7 (1982) and Documenta 8 (1987), as well as the 17th, 18th and 20th São Paulo Biennials (1983, 1985 and 1989), and represented Portugal at the 46th Venice Biennale (1997). He held exhibitions at institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, and the Serralves Museum, Porto. He was awarded the AICA/MC Prize (1997), and his work is part of major international public and private collections.
VHILS (Alexandre Farto) (Lisbon, 1987)
He lives and works in Lisbon. From the outset of his career, he has developed a distinctive artistic language, using sculpture, mural art, installation and video. He explores themes such as identity, memory, urbanisation and the transformation of cities, and is renowned for creating portraits using a perforation technique and removal of layers from walls and other surfaces.
He took part in The Cans Festival in London (2008), organised by Banksy, and has held exhibitions at institutions such as the CAFA Art Museum, Beijing (2015), and Le Centquatre-Paris (2018). He was awarded the EDP Arte Prize (2015), and his work is included in major international public and private collections.
