biography
António Bolota was born in Benguela, Angola, in 1962 and moved to Portugal at the age of 15. He currently lives and works in Lisbon. Trained as a Civil Engineer – an area where he has developed his professional activity –, Bolota renewed his interest in art in the 1990s, studying Art History and Aesthetics and completing the Advanced Course in Sculpture at ArCo – Centro de Artes e Comunicação Visual in 2008. His professional activity has frequently offered him the possibility to revive and give temporary new uses to old buildings undergoing reconversion. It was thus that he founded and helped establish several independent exhibition spaces in Lisbon, as is the case with Bartolomeu 5 (2003-2004), Avenida 211 (2004-2012) and Ar Sólido (programmed by Bolota and Marco Pires between 2013 and 2015). Located in a magnificent building on the Avenida da Liberdade promenade, the Avenida 211 space became a central place for visual artists to produce and present their work, featuring dozens of studios and some of the most dynamic exhibition spaces in Lisbon. Run by the artists themselves or young curators, these spaces included Kunsthalle Lissabon, Parkour, Barbershop, Escritório and Sala Bebé. His main solo exhibitions have been held at Galeria Vera Cortês, Lisbon (2020 and 2016); Galeria Quadrum, Lisbon (2019); Appleton Square, Lisbon (2016); Fórum Eugénio de Almeida (Évora, 2016); Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon and Porto (2010, 2012 and 2014); White Pavilion, Museu da Cidade, Lisbon (2010) and Ermida de Guadalupe, Vila do Bispo (2010). He has also featured in group exhibitions such as Escala 1:1. 21 Artistas Cntemporáneos Portugueses, Tabacalera, Madrid (2018); Cosmic, Sonic, Animistic, CIAJG – José de Guimarães International Centre for the Arts, Guimarães (2017); Sala dos Gessos, Electricity Museum, Lisbon (2016); Canal Caveira, Cordoaria Nacional, Lisbon (2015); Ar Sólido, Lisbon (2015); Landarte, Cascais (2014); António Filipe, Parkour, Lisbon (2013); Como Proteger-se do Tigre, 16th Cerveira Biennial, Vila Nova de Cerveira (2011); Estados Gerais, Artecontempo, Lisbon (2009) and Espaço lnterpress, Lisbon (2006). In 2009 he was nominated for the EDP New Artists Award.
