Augusto Alves da Silva has been working since the 90’s, and in his path he has solidified the relevance of his work, receiving praise from both the general public and the specialized critic, and becoming one of the most acclaimed contemporary artists in Portugal.
His work is not confined to photography (video playing an equally important role in it) but it is his photographic work that has stood out the most in the last two decades.
Augusto Alves da Silva is a master photographer, and his images present a distinct sharpness, even in the large formats that are so characteristic of his work. Some of these were included in his most recent series, Die Schönste Fahne der Welt (The Most Beautiful Flag in the World), presented at this very gallery in September 2006, and Useless Landscapes, seen in October of the same year at the Chiado 8 gallery in Lisbon.
In terms of conceptual approach, the artist makes remarkable use of the deceptive neutrality of photography, especially when working with landscape and portrait themes. Decoding images and situations by means of the inclusion of subtle and sudden elements, the artist creates a body of work where the exceptional is never bluntly stated, rather making it the viewer’s task to, in due course, discover that which truly redefines each picture as a whole piece.
In the series currently exhibited at Galeria Pedro Oliveira, 5 Days in Venice, the artist once again expounds this work regimen, as each of the five pictures exhibited correspond to a specific day and time.