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about the work
I'm Daniel V. Melim.* I was born in Coimbra in 1982 and grew up in Funchal (Madeira Island). I live and work in Lisbon.
The images I make come from an interest for old things, for things of the Earth. I am interested in how ancestral processes and presences can nourish our life and challenges today, without nostalgia or idealism.
I believe in the magical function of Art. I believe in a magic based on relationships, on the collective and on the idiosyncratic truth of each one. I believe in the need to vividly inhabit the innumerable paradoxes of this world. I believe in a magic that is not escapist.
I believe in an Art committed to the present moment. To a certain extent I even believe in a useful Art, one that is at once generous and demanding, at the service of the social fabric in which I am inserted. I do not believe in Art hidden in intellectual jargon, nor do I believe in Art that is easy to "understand". Nevertheless, I do not believe in an Art that is at the mercy of the constant reaction to what may be called "urgent contemporary issues". And yet, I repeat, I do not believe in an escapist Art.
Coming from a privileged Western, male, white and heteronormative middle-class context, I try for my Art to be Feminist. Or that at least my voice and presence does not block too much the way of those for whom the fight against injustice is constant and burning.
My first creation were paintings. I then expanded them to relational projects where the image is generated in direct interaction with other people, embracing their energy and life story. In a third moment came sound (words and music). I have never abandoned paintings, rather I have tried that the universal human and non-fragmentary vocation of creation always remains, not imprisoning myself in a static self-image of "painter". The sound vibration and the words point to the same place from where the images emanate. Painting and sound intend to to embrace this human world, to contribute to its healing in a present way. Without being optimistic but much less being pessimistic. I keep searching, inside and outside galleries, for an Art close to the people and to the transformation processes for which our hearts sincerely and nakedly yearn.
My responsibility towards the present moment is above all an energetic one: responsibility towards the spaces, affections and dynamics that my creations partially set in motion. To do my part, to have fun, to put things I believe in into the world, to irritate a few others now and then, to slowly saw off one of the legs of the table of the society of constant greed and competition. To inspire myself and some others so that the days can go on with flavour. Days going forward with some kind of intimate sense that points to something bigger than ourselves. A changeable and truly "felt sense".
( * I added the V. from my middle name to my artistic name, to have a minimum distinction between me and a Brazilian painter who has the same first and last names as me. He has many works on the streets of São Paulo, the largest city in Latin America, so if you search Daniel Melim on Google Images you are likely to find mostly his work)
The images I make come from an interest for old things, for things of the Earth. I am interested in how ancestral processes and presences can nourish our life and challenges today, without nostalgia or idealism.
I believe in the magical function of Art. I believe in a magic based on relationships, on the collective and on the idiosyncratic truth of each one. I believe in the need to vividly inhabit the innumerable paradoxes of this world. I believe in a magic that is not escapist.
I believe in an Art committed to the present moment. To a certain extent I even believe in a useful Art, one that is at once generous and demanding, at the service of the social fabric in which I am inserted. I do not believe in Art hidden in intellectual jargon, nor do I believe in Art that is easy to "understand". Nevertheless, I do not believe in an Art that is at the mercy of the constant reaction to what may be called "urgent contemporary issues". And yet, I repeat, I do not believe in an escapist Art.
Coming from a privileged Western, male, white and heteronormative middle-class context, I try for my Art to be Feminist. Or that at least my voice and presence does not block too much the way of those for whom the fight against injustice is constant and burning.
My first creation were paintings. I then expanded them to relational projects where the image is generated in direct interaction with other people, embracing their energy and life story. In a third moment came sound (words and music). I have never abandoned paintings, rather I have tried that the universal human and non-fragmentary vocation of creation always remains, not imprisoning myself in a static self-image of "painter". The sound vibration and the words point to the same place from where the images emanate. Painting and sound intend to to embrace this human world, to contribute to its healing in a present way. Without being optimistic but much less being pessimistic. I keep searching, inside and outside galleries, for an Art close to the people and to the transformation processes for which our hearts sincerely and nakedly yearn.
My responsibility towards the present moment is above all an energetic one: responsibility towards the spaces, affections and dynamics that my creations partially set in motion. To do my part, to have fun, to put things I believe in into the world, to irritate a few others now and then, to slowly saw off one of the legs of the table of the society of constant greed and competition. To inspire myself and some others so that the days can go on with flavour. Days going forward with some kind of intimate sense that points to something bigger than ourselves. A changeable and truly "felt sense".
( * I added the V. from my middle name to my artistic name, to have a minimum distinction between me and a Brazilian painter who has the same first and last names as me. He has many works on the streets of São Paulo, the largest city in Latin America, so if you search Daniel Melim on Google Images you are likely to find mostly his work)
exhibitions, performance and relational projects (selection)
2023
–Sung Portraits, Centro de Arte Contemporânea de Coimbra
–O Animal e As Roupas (solo show), Monitor Lisbon
–Prémio Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, Museu Municipal Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, Amarante
–Group show with Thomas Braida, Lucia Cantò, Matteo Fato, Oscar Giaconia, Eugénia Mussa e Nicola Samorì), Monitor booth, Artissima – International Fair of Contemporary Art, Torino, Itálía
–HOUSEWARMING, Monitor Lisbon
–Pose, curated by José Maças de Carvalho, CACC - Centro de Arte Contemporanea de Coimbra
2022
– perfomance and painting the wooden man, Biblioteca Municipal de Machico. Curators: José Tolentino Mendonça and Emanuel Gaspar
– Broken temple, unbreakable spirit (solo show), Monitor Roma Gallery
– sung paintings perfomance (with Maria Petersen), XIV International Puppets Meeting of Montemor-o-Novo. With the support of Calouste Gulbenkian Fondation.
– sung paintings project, Festival Verão Azul, Loulé. With the support of Calouste Gulbenkian Fondation.
- Encyclopedia of poetic practices II - Penha SCO, Lisbon. Support: Portuguese Republic, DGArtes-Ministry of Culture
- Between words and silences - Norlinda and José Lima collection, Centro de Artes Oliva, S. João da Madeira
2021
– Between words and silences - Norlinda and José Lima collection, Centro de Artes Oliva, S. João da Madeira
– Collective painting (Monitor Gallery), Artissima - International Fair of Contemporary Art, Turin, Italy
– Collective painting (Monitor Gallery), Arte Verona, Italy
– Centro Cultural do Carro performance, with Tiago Gandra (Ambulante Gallery). Support: Portuguese Republic, DGArtes-Ministry of Culture. Festival Verão Azul, Festival Paragem
– Residence and performance at Binaural de Nodar, Castro Daire. With the support of Calouste Gulbenkian Fondation
2020
– sete-estrelo (solo show), Monitor Lisbon
– Creative (un)makings: disruptions in art/archaeology, MIEC - Internacional Museum of Contemporary Sculpture, Santo Tirso
– Ali Bábá e os Ladrões da Quarentena performance, Quarentena online festival
2019
– Anozero – Coimbra Bienal of Contemporary Art. curator: Agnaldo Farias. assistant-curators: Lígia Afonso and Nuno Brito da Rocha
– Ilhéstico, Porta 33. curator: Miguel Von Hafe Pérez.
– Em viagem, Quinta Magnólia - Cultural Center, Funchal, Madeira Island. curators: Márcia de Sousa and Rita Rodrigues
– O Som e a Memória, weekly workshop connecting sound memories and the body, Anozero – Coimbra Contemporary Art Bienal
– puxada/gambiarra performance, in the Anozero – Coimbra Contemporary Art Bienal opening, Mosteiro de Santa-Clara-a-Nova
– nós desta árvore performance (with Mariana Camacho), S. Luiz Chapel - Funcha Sacred Art Museum, with the collaboration of Rodrigo Camacho and Sara Rodrigues
2018
– the magician and the hermit, Travessa da Ermida, Lisbon
– Tarot Histories, silkscreen printed and handpainted Tarot deck edition
2017
– chão de orações (solo show), Porta 33, Funchal, Madeira Island
– Paintings (with António Melo and Martinho Costa), Galeria Monumental, Lisbon
– images to open spaces - images and rituals to bring light into personal challenges, Porta 33, Funchal, Madeira Island
2016
– chão de orações (solo show), MUDAS-Madeira Museum of Contemporary Art (edition)
– Só Cabeças, Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
– painting for the poster of the Kosmos und Alptraum retrospective of Kidlat Tahimik, Arsenal Cinema, Berlin
2015
– boa morte, Galeria Luiz Fernando Landeiro (solo show), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
– Painting for Montanha film poster, by João Salaviza (Antigone d’Or winner– Montpellier Film Festival)
– images for people, Salmon Youth Center, London
– handmade images for the Renata Rosa Encantações album. Hélico, France.
– Popular Portraits!, Hangar, Lisbon
2014
– Avenida Intendente, Rua do Benformoso, Lisbon
–opened to more than one creator, The Field New Cross, London
–images for people, Poço d’Ideias, Lisbon
2013
– Seguindo a Luz Central, Galeria Mercedes Viegas, Rio de Janeiro
– Arts Residency at Sacatar Institute, Bahia, Brazil
2012
– painting, Galeria Nuno Centeno (solo show), Oporto
– o som (with Cristina Lamas and Joana Escoval), Museu Nogueira da Silva, Braga, Portugal
– presença no mundo (with Pedro Kogen/Pierre Cendres), Galeria dos Prazeres, Madeira Island
– Mural painting (with Rigo 23 and the Ribeira Seca community), Madeira Island, Portugal
– treasures looking for maps – drawing for recovering people (with Rita Tojal), Lisbon and Cascais, Portugal
2011
– Painting and Drawing, Galeria Mercedes Viegas (solo show), Rio de Janeiro
– Painting, Módulo – Centro Difusor de Arte (solo show), Lisbon
– Fidelidade Mundial Young Painters Award, Chiado 8, Lisbon (edition)
2010
– Interferences - Public Art Show, Espaços do Desenho, Lisbon
– Mono - about the GICAPC/CORES group, C.A.P.C., Coimbra, Portugal
– Colectiva 10, Galeria Mercedes Viegas, Rio de Janeiro
– Ambulant Art Gallery (with Tiago Gandra), Lisbon
– mural, Lisbon Oceanarium
– Triangle Arts Trust Home and Abroad Art Residency, Sintra, Portugal
– Arts Residency at Intermitências Festival, Drawing Spaces and Lisbon Subway, Lisbon
– Project in Jornal Mural, coordinated by Hugo Canoilas, Lisbon
2009
– Ginguba, Módulo – Centro Difusor de Arte Lisboa / Quase Galeria, Oporto (solo show)
2008
– Amor, Módulo – Centro Difusor de Arte (solo show), Lisbon
– Atlas Drawing Project, Carmona e Costa Foundation, Lisbon
– Atlas Mural nr.1, Proxecto-Edición 2008, Pazo da Cultura de Pontevedra, Spain
2007
– EDP New Artists Award, Central do Freixo, Oporto (edition)
– Mural Drawings, Fabrica Features (solo show), Lisbon
2006
– Por a Casa, Módulo – Centro Difusor de Arte (solo show), Lisbon
awards and nominations
2014 – Shortlister of the 100 Painters of Tomorrow project – Thames & Hudson and Beers London, United Kingdom. Jurors: Kurt Beers, Cecily Brown, Tony Godfrey, Yuko Hasegawa, Suzanne Hudson, Jacky Klein, Gregor Muir, Valeria Napoleone, Barry Schwabsky, Philip Tinari
2011 – Winner of Fidelidade Mundial Young Painters Award, Portugal. Jurors: Miguel Wandschneider, João Queiroz, Leonor Nazaré, Miguel Lobo Antunes
2007 – Finalist of EDP New Artists Award, Portugal. Jurors: Delfim Sardo, João Pinharanda, Nuno Crespo