Biography
Manuel Viana Botelho was born in Lisbon on November 2, 1950.
He is the son of José Rafael Botelho and Maria Leonor Botelho and grandson of Carlos Botelho (1899-1982).?Lives and works in S. Pedro do Estoril.
Retired associate professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon.
1967-1983
He attends Rolando Sá Nogueira's drawing class at SNBA (Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes/ National Fine Arts Society), Lisbon (c. 1967-1969).
Takes part for the first time in group exhibitions (1968).
In 1968 he begins the Architecture course at ESBAL (Escola Superior de Belas Artes de Lisboa/ Lisbon School of Fine Arts).
Begins working at his father's architecture office (1970). His collaboration with Manuel Tainha starts shortly afterwards (1971-1975).
He completes the Architecture course at ESBAL in 1976.
Teaches visual arts at the D. Pedro V High School, in Lisbon (1976-1978).
Works at the Direção Geral de Construções Hospitalares (1978-1980).
Works with architect José Rafael Botelho and with architect João Abel Manta (1978-1983).
Attends the Hot Club of Portugal jazz school, Lisbon (1980-1981).
1968-1969
The social and political themes of his work reflect the wars in Africa and Vietnam, the student protest movements of 1968 and the Portuguese electoral campaign of 1969.
1983-1987
He is awarded a Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship to study at the Byam Shaw School of Art (1983-1985) and at the Slade School of Fine Art (1985-1987).
Holds one-person exhibition at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon (1986).
Returns to Portugal in 1987; holds on to his studio in London until 1996.
One-person exhibitions:
Manuel Botelho: Painting and Drawing, 1984-1986; Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 1986.
Manuel Botelho: Painting / Drawing; Módulo Gallery, Lisbon, 1987.
Manuel Botelho: Painting / Drawing; Módulo Gallery, Oporto, 1987.
1988-1990
He sets up his studio at the former studio of Carlos Botelho in Buzano, Parede (1988).
One-person exhibitions:
Manuel Botelho. Módulo Gallery, Oporto, 1988.
Manuel Botelho: Painting. Módulo Gallery, Lisbon, 1989.
Manuel Botelho: Painting / Drawing. Módulo Gallery; 1990.
Manuel Botelho: Painting. J M / Gomes Alves Gallery, Guimarães, 1990.
1991-1994
Teaches at Ar.CO art school, Lisbon; sets up a drawing course at Monumental Gallery, Lisbon.
Teaches at Fernando Lopes Graça High School, Parede; 1993-1994.
Public art installation beside Calçada de Carriche, Lisbon, as part of the City Hall's Festas da Cidade programme, 1993; curator: Nuno Teotónio Pereira.
Studies the work of Carlos Botelho (1993-1999).
Curator (in partnership with Fernando Azevedo) of the exhibition Botelho – Os Anos Diferentes / Botelho – The Different Years, Palácio Galveias, Lisbon, 1994.
One-person exhibitions:
Manuel Botelho: Painting. Módulo Gallery, Lisbon, 1991.
Manuel Botelho. Módulo Gallery, Oporto, 1991.
Manuel Botelho. Galeria 5, Coimbra, 1991.
Manuel Botelho. Flowers East, London, 1992.
Manuel Botelho. J M / Gomes Alves Gallery, Guimarães, 1992.
Manuel Botelho: Painting. Módulo Gallery, Oporto, 1994.
Manuel Botelho: Painting 1990-1994. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 1994; curator: Helena Freitas.
1976/1983
Architecture: branches of Caixa Geral de Depósitos at Mafra and Olivais, Lisbon (in collaboration with João Abel Manta); works at the Direcção Geral de Construções Hospitalares (1978/1980); works with his father on a vast group of projects for the Nazaré district, Funchal (1978/1983).
1995-1998
In January 1995 he starts teaching at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon (FBAUL).
He takes the Provas de Aptidão Pedagógica e Capacidade Científica (Exams in Pedagogical Aptitude and Academic Capacity), FBAUL, 1998.
He designs a tile panel for the Polytechnic Institute of Beja.
Moves his studio to the garage of his home in S. Pedro do Estoril.
One-person exhibitions:
Manuel Botelho: Painting. Módulo Gallery, Lisboa, 1995.
Manuel Botelho. Módulo Gallery, Porto, 1996.
Manuel Botelho: Painting and Drawing. Módulo Gallery, Lisboa, 1998.
Manuel Botelho: Paintings on Paper. Módulo Gallery, Porto, 1998.
1999-2004
On the occasion of the celebrations of the centenary of the birth of Carlos Botelho, he was curator of the painter’s exhibitions at the Arpad Szenes – Vieira da Silva Museum, Lisbon, and at Casa da Cerca, Almada (1999).
He exhibits a selection from his last four years of work at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon (2000).
Publishes a monograph with text by João Lima Pinharanda: Manuel Botelho: Painting and Drawing, Editorial Estar, 2000.
He plans a PhD at Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon (FBAUL) entitled Parallel Paths: An Analysis of Guston's Work and a Personal Painting Project (supervised by Isabel Sabino).
Trips to Paris (2000), Valencia (2002), London and New York (2004) as part of his research on Philip Guston.
In September 2002 he takes a sabbatical from FBAUL to work on his PhD (until September 2005). Although away from teaching, he participates in the preparatory stages of the first major curricular revision that occurred at FBAUL in the new millennium.
One-person exhibitions:
Manuel Botelho: Painting. Galeria Municipal de Montemor-o-Novo, 1999.
Manuel Botelho: Painting / Drawing, 1997-2000. Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, 2000 (catalogue with text by José Luís Porfírio).
Manuel Botelho: Painting / Drawing. Módulo Gallery, Porto, 2001.
Manuel Botelho: Drawing. Módulo Gallery, Lisboa, 2001.
Manuel Botelho. Galeria J. Gomes Alves, Guimarães, 2002.
Manuel Botelho: Painting / Drawing. Módulo Gallery, Lisboa, 2003.
2005-2006
Major one-person exhibition at the Gulbenkian Modern Art Centre (Centro de Are Moderna Gulbenkian), Lisbon, 2005; curated by João Pinharanda.
Manuel Botelho is represented by Lisboa 20 / Miguel Nabinho Gallery, Lisbon.
Finishes his PhD in January 2006.?
One-person exhibitions:
Manuel Botelho: Drawing and Painting 1984-2004. Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 2005; curated by João Pinharanda.
Manuel Botelho: Misdemeanours and Confessions. Lagos Cultural Centre, Lagos, Portugal, 2005; curated by João Pinharanda.
Manuel Botelho: Painting and Drawing. Galeria J. Gomes Alves, Guimarães, 2005.
Manuel Botelho: Drawing and Painting. Reitoria da Universidade de Lisboa, 2006.
Manuel Botelho. Lisboa 20 / Miguel Nabinho Gallery, Lisbon, 2006.
2007-2008
Publishes a book on Philip Guston taken from one of the chapters of his doctoral thesis (2007).
Between September 2006 and November 2007 he started, at the Military Museum of Lisbon, the photographic project Confidential/Declassified, centred on the Portuguese colonial war (1961-1975); he would prolong this work afterwards in his home studio.
One-person exhibitions:
Rigor Mortis, João Esteves de Oliveira Gallery, Lisbon, 2007.
Confidential/Declassified: Inventory. Elvas Contemporary Art Museum, Elvas, 2008; curated by João Pinharanda.
Confidential/Declassified: Field Ration. EDP Foundation, Lisbon, 2008; curated by João Pinharanda.
Confidential/Declassified: Ambush. Miguel Nabinho Gallery, Lisbon, 2008.
2009-2012
He starts new photo series and resumes drawing (Aerogram).
Makes a sound piece based on a set of letters and aerograms acquired at the Feira da Ladra flea market, Lisbon (Letters of Love and Longing, 2011).
In 2012, he started to collaborate on Wikipedia in Portuguese, creating and/or expanding a significant number of pages on artists and architects from the first generations of modernism in Portugal.
One-person exhibitions:
Matchbox: Portugal is not a Small Country. Miguel Nabinho Gallery, Lisbon, 2009.
Aerogram. Fernando Santos Gallery, Oporto, 2009.
Confidential/Declassified: War Godmother. Lagos Cultural Centre, Lagos, Portugal, 2009; curated by João Pinharanda.
Letters of Love and Longing. Cascais Cultural Centre, Cascais, 2011; curated by João Pinharanda.
Slow March. Laboratório das Artes (Arts Laboratory), Guimarães, 2012.
Confidential/Declassified. PLMJ Foundation, Lisbon, 2012; curated by Miguel Amado.
2013 – 2017
Fot the first time in his work, he works with video and performance (Triumphal Journey, 2013).
In 2014 and 2015 Botelho travels through the north and centre of Portugal photographing historical funerary monuments with a recumbent statue – (Im)permanence series; he is invited to deliver the closing conference of the International Congress on Tomb Sculpture that took place at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (MNAA), Lisbon, 2017.
Ascends to the position of Associate Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon.
One-person exhibitions:
Aerogram. Lugar do Desenho – Júlio Resende Foundation, Gondomar, 2013.
Triumphal Journey (performance; video installation). Old School, Lisbon, December 7, 2013; curated by Susana Pomba.
Confidential/Declassified: Outdoor Mass. Pavilhão Preto do Museu da Cidade, Lisbon, 2014; curated by João Pinharanda.
Confidential/Declassified: Outdoor Mass. Galeria do Parque, Vila Nova da Barquinha, 2014-2015; curated by João Pinharanda.
Album (video; photography). Miguel Nabinho Gallery, Lisbon, 2017; curated by Sérgio Mah.
2018 – 2021
In 2017-2018 he makes several stays in an area devastated by the October 2017 forest fires, capturing the images of his new series – Lead White.
Starts drawing again (2018-2019).
Departing from his MNAA conference text, he makes the film The (Im)permanence of the Gesture, video, 2018 (premiered at the Doclisboa 2018 film festival).
New video versions of Album (2019) and Letters of Love and Longing (2019-2021).
Publishes the book (Im)permanence (Documenta, 2020).
Botelho stops teaching in July 2020 and on November 2nd he retires as associate professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon.
He publishes a new book – Studios and Tutorials: Reflections on the Teaching of Art (Ed. FBAUL, 2021).
One-person exhibitions:
Outdoor Mass. Sociedade Martins Sarmento, Guimarães, 2019
(Im)permanence. Convento dos Capuchos, Almada, 2019-2020; curated by Filipa Oliveira.
(Im)permanence. Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga; 2019-2020.
Lead White. Côa Museum, Vila Nova de Foz Côa, 2020-2021; curated by Filipa Oliveira.