2021.02.22 - Catharsis . Watercolors Exhibition
Channel: Fundação Rui Cunha
Date: 2021-02-23

The Rui Cunha Foundation presents on February 22, 2021, Monday at 6:30 pm, the Watercolors Exhibition “Catharsis” by José Basto da Silva, which debuts here in the art of painting and, for the first time, lets the public know about his new experience.

The project showcases a total of 40 watercolor art pieces, painted chronologically throughout 2020, during the context of the Pandemic and the first lockdown in Macau, that took place at the beginning of February. As the author describes, the public sharing of these works has a “main objective to convey a message of hope and motivation in times of uncertainty and instability, but which open doors to new flights that lead us to look at the world in a different way and to rediscover ourselves”.

The event is also a celebration of the 50th anniversary of José Basto da Silva, a longtime collaborator of Rui Cunha Foundation’s “Notebook of Stories” series, co-organized by the Association of Former Students of the “Pedro Nolasco” Commercial School, of which he is the current President.

With a master degree in Software Engineering from the University of Coimbra, added by a postgraduate and international accreditation in Project Management, the artist works since 2012 at the Institute of Municipal Affairs (IAM). José Basto da Silva's interest in painting started early, during high school, but he never developed this skill or pursued professional studies in the artistic field.

Suddenly, the world changed. In February 2020, during the first confinement measures regarding Covid-19, defined by the Macao SAR Government, the author rediscovered the watercolors and recovered an old passion. He followed videos on Youtube of great masters, such as Alvaro Castagnet, Joseph Zbukvic and Shibazaki, among others. He began to attempt and perfect techniques that allowed him to improve the quality of the paintings. And he took advantage of distance learning, signing up for online courses, namely those of Daniel “Pito” Campos, Ana Santos and Alex Hillkurtz.

This journey sailing through watercolors will be on display until the 6th of March 2021.