Pedro Batista
suavely chromatic
August 2022
Interviews with open minded creative people who, like Olivier Garcé & Clio Dimofski, resonate the same passion for collectible design, art and narrative places that defines them.
Next in our interview series, we speak to artist Pedro Batista. Drawing from a solid background in Communication Design, Pedro branched into developing his own artistic practice, reinterpreting the urban culture and atmosphere of the 90's that he found the freedom needed to express himself and pursue a career in arts to create his now recognisable and contrasted drawings. He is photographed here in his Atelier at Carcavelos.
What is your background?
As an artist I was very much influenced by the 90’s skate and surf culture in Portugal, specially where I lived in Carcavelos, near the sea.
I studied Graphic Design in Lisbon which was followed by an artistic residency at SVA in New York. Later I moved to Berlin for a while and participated in other residencies in Medellin and Tuscany.
You were living abroad, why did you decided to come back to Portugal?
Portugal is my home, where my family and friends are. It is where I can have the lifestyle I want and where I am the happiest. I have a very strong relationship with the ocean so I need to be close to the beach. It is part of my daily routine, together with going to the studio to work. I also started my own family here, so Portugal (with all its flaws and virtues) is where I feel at home.
What defines your color palette?
My color palette varies constantly according to my mood, my influences and what inspires me. I use color to find different places within my painting, but I don’t overthink it. I let the painting flow naturally. Sometime it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
How is your journey when you create?
I am always collecting photos, drawings and images that inspire me. Those are usually the starting point to that journey. During the process, I adopt an almost random approach and I let the stimuli, images and colours drive the work until I feel like I have reached an interesting result.
What is your relation to surf in your daily life?
Surf plays a very important role in my life so I try to incorporate it in my daily routine as much as possible. Surfing is unique in that it demands a constant adaptation to the sea, the waves, the conditions. It is driven by instinct and not only by technique. Surfing reminds me of being a child, carefree and happy.
What place to do you cherish in Portugal?
I have a special bond with the coastline of Cascais, from Guincho beach to Carcavelos. Carcavelos is my favourite beach because it is where I grew up and learned to surf.
What is your perception of Portugal contemporary art at this moment?
I think we are living a significant transitional moment. Portugal has changed a lot in the past 5-10 years with foreign investment that brought new art buyers and collectors to the market. Galleries and institutions are now more open to support a new generation of artists but I feel that there is still a conservative aspect of the art scene where decision-makers are very much averse to risk-taking.
On the other hand, the culture sector in Portugal is still underfunded and neglected by the government. There are little incentives to artistic production and a complete lack of strategy to support intellectual and cultural development in the country. It is of the utmost importance to invest in this sector and make evident the importance of art and culture as a means to a more enlightened and educated society.
What is next?
After 2 long years of Covid I am now working on an individual show to be held at the end of this year in Lisbon.
Pedro Batista bio
Born in 1980, Pedro Batista soon developed an interest in painting. However, it was amidst the urban culture and atmosphere of the 90's that Pedro found the freedom he needed to express himself and pursue a career in arts.
After graduating in Communication Design, Pedro enrolled in a Residency Program at the New York School of Visual Arts where he explored, developed and perfected techniques.
In 2010, Pedro decided to move to Berlin for 6 months for a creative retreat that allowed him to consolidate his passion for painting. Later, in 2015 he travels to Medellín, Colombia for an art residency at Campos de Gutierrez and in 2020, art residency in Villa Lena, Tuscany, Italy.
These and other experiences in different international contexts provided Pedro with the opportunity to rethink his working practice from a formal point of view and to contextualize it in a broader international scene.
Pedro has participated in several solo and collective exhibitions in Lisbon, Málaga, Medellín, Stockholm and New York, and he is currently based in Lisbon.
