Bela Silva was born in Lisbon, Portugal, and studied at the Fine Arts Schools in Porto and Lisbon, Ar,Co, Lisbon, the Norwich Fine Arts in the UK and The Art Institute of Chicago in the US. She currently lives between Lisbon and Brussels.
She exhibited her work in Chicago’s Ann Nathan Gallery and Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Lisbon’s Museu do Azulejo (Tile Museum), Museu Anastácio Gonçalves in Lisbon, Palácio da Ajuda, Fundação Ricardo Espírito Santo, and also in China and Japan. She has participated in group shows of tile art in Brazil, Spain and France, ran ceramics workshops in Japan and Morocco, and has been awarded residencies at Kohler, WI, US, and Fabrica Bordalo Pinheiro, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.
FEATURED WORK
Bela Silva works essentially with sculpture in clay painted and fired in different temperatures so that she can get each color desired. The work of Bela Silva are organic, voluptuous, generous and perhaps, baroques. Her aesthetics derive from her Portuguese origins with Asian influences brought by the Portuguese explorers. The Oriental, Persian, Etruscans and Latin-American are a source of constant inspiration in the work of Bela Silva.
In the sculptures, drawings and paintings of Bela Silva, we can always spot her love for nature. The world of the sea (in Portugal) with the fish, the sea animals, the corals cross paths with the world of the fauna with the birds, the iguanas, the reptiles and even the dragons. In the Library of Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Bela Silva discovered the work of James Ensor without knowing that fifteen years later she would live in his country. In very little time since then, her work has been exhibited in Belgium and France. Her work is present in many collections, both private and public and her talent is recognized both in Portugal and in the Nordic countries.
The color and form in the work of Bela Silva is subtle and sensual and, at the same time, direct, energetic and brutal. Her work is unique and universal.
—Benoît van Innis
BELA SILVA’s C.V. (resume)
EDUCATION
1994 – Master of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, USA.
1992 – Ceramic Course, Ar.Co., Lisboa, Portugal.
1992 – BA in Sculpture, Superior School of Fine Arts in Lisbon, Portugal.
SCHOLARSHIPS
– Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
– Luso-American Development Foundation.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2013 – Ceramic Panel Project, Bom Sucesso High School, Belém, Portugal.
2012 – A mesa, Galerie Valerie Traan, Belgium.
2011 – Céramiques, Galerie Saint Jacques, Toulose, France.
2010 – Visita ao Porto, Trindade Gallery, Oporto.
2009 – Stag Night, Alecrim 50 Gallery, Lisbon.
2008 – O Armário dos Celadons, Casa-Museu Anastácio Gonçalves, Lisbon.
2007 – Um olhar sobre o palácio, National Palace of Ajuda, Lisbon.
– Chegada do Príncipe Encantado, Bissaya Barreto Foundation, Coimbra.
– Viagens pela Índia, Colares Gallery, Sintra.
2006 – Sometimes I wonder if I’m in wonderland, Bedeteca, Lisbon.
2005 – Zoologics, Trema Gallery, Lisbon.
2004 – Jardins Secretos, Trema Gallery, Lisbon.
2003 – Odaliscas, Trema Gallery, Lisbon.
2002 – Mise en Scéne, Trema Gallery, Lisbon.
2001 – Moças, ARTitudo – Art Gallery, Castelo de Vide, Portugal.
– Barroco Excesso, Toen Shigaraki Gallery, Moraes Museum, Tokushima, Japan.
– Barroco Excesso, Portugal Embassy, Tokio, Japan.
2000 – Os Alabastrinos das Agapetas, Giefarte Gallery, Lisbon.
1999 – Antes do mar, as águas, Museu Nacional do Azulejo, Lisbon.
1995 – Cerâmicas, Gary Marks Gallery, Chicago, USA.
1992 – A bela e os montros, National Centre of Culture, Lisbon.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2013 – Wake up! Summer Exhibition, Alecrim 50 Gallery, Lisbon.
2012 – “Birds never die in mid-flight. I think.”, Alecrim 50, Lisboa
2012 – Bela & benoit extra, Kortrijk, Belgium.
– Riso, Museu da Electricidade, Lisbon.
2011 – A Corte do Norte, Plataforma Revólver, Transboavista | VPF | Art Building, Lisbon.
2010 – Arte Lisboa, Contemporary Art Fair, Alecrim 50 Gallery, Lisbon Congress Center, Pavilion Rio. Summer @ my place, Alecrim50, Lisbon.
2010/09 – Figuras e Padrões – Albarrada panel, exhibition curated by Tile Nacional Museum (Lisbon) in Oscar Niemeyer Museum,Curitiba, Brazil.
2010/07 – Azulejaria Contemporânea e de Autor , temporary presentation in the 20th century core, Tile Nacional Museum, Lisbon.
2009 – Arte Lisboa, Contemporary Art Fair, Alecrim 50 Gallery, FIL, Lisbon.
Cães, Trema Gallery, Lisbon.
– Encont®o de Ilustração, Trindade Gallery, Oporto.
– Gruppo di famiglia in un interno, Istituto Portoghese de Sant’Antonio, Roma, Italia.
– O azulejo em Portugal Lugar de Encontro de Culturas, Fundación Mercedes Calles – Carlos Ballestero, Cáceres.
2008 – Enjoy, Galerie Mathieu Lenorman, Paris.
– Lá fora, Electricity Museum, Lisbon.
– Imagens para LER + Obras de Bela Silva in the collection of Tile Nacional Museum (temporary presentation integrated in LER+ program), Tile Nacional Museum, Lisbon.
– As Colecções do Museu Nacional do Azulejo , Lisboa, Art Gallery, SESI, S. Paulo, Brazil.
– Presenças de Azulejaria e Cerâmica Contemporâneas no Museu Nacional do Azulejo (1980-2000), Tile Nacional Museum, Lisbon.
2007 – Cerâmicas para as Arquitecturas, Azulejos com autores (1950/2000), Ósiris Gallery, – Caldas da Rainha, by the occasion of Ceramic Festivities.
– Tapices Cerâmicos de Portugal, O Azulejo do Século XVI ao Século XX, Real Fábrica de Tápices , Madrid.
2005 – Contrato Social, Bordalo Pinheiro Museum, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.
– Oficinas de cerâmica do Ar.Co 2004-2005
– Arte Lisboa – Contemporary Art Fair, FIL, Lisbon.
– Tão Estreita Regra Em Tão Vasta Liberdade, O Azulejo em Portugal do século XVI ao século XX, Universidade Pontifica de Salamanca.
2004 – Arte Lisboa – Contemporary Art Fair, FIL, Lisbon.
– Museu Nacional do Azulejo, Lisboa.
2004/02 – Cerâmica Cultura e Inovação 1851- 2000, itinerant exhibition in six Europe museums: Budapest, Lisbon, Limoges, Stoke-on-Trent, Faeanza, Selb-Plobberg.
2003 – 3 autores, 3 matérias, Trema Gallery, Lisbon.
2002 – New Work Mixed Media, Ann Nathan Gallery, Illinois, USA.
– La Gioconda, Trema Gallery, Lisboa.
– Ceramic Museum, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.
– Arte Lisboa – Contemporary Art Fair, FIL, Lisbon.
– Un Art dês Sens. L’Azulejo au Portugal, Hôtel de Ville de Paris.
2001 – Desenhos Eróticos, Trema Gallery, Lisbon.
– Musée de Cerámique de Vallauris, France.
– Arte Lisboa – Contemporary Art Fair, FIL, Lisbon.
– O Azulejo Moderno e Contemporâneo, Exponor, Leça da Palmeira.
– Obras Sobre Papel e Cerâmica das Colecções do Museu Nacional do Azulejo, Tile Nacional Museum, Lisbon.
2001/00 – O Azulejo em Portugal no Século XX, itinerant exhibition: Rio de Janeiro, São Salvador da Baia, Belém do Pará, S. Paulo – Brazil.
2000 – Cerâmica e Joalharia Portuguesa, Wan Fung Gallery, Peijing, China.
– Cerâmica Contemporânea, Vallauris, France.
– O Azulejo Português no Século XX, Museu Nacional do Azulejo, Lisbon.
– Portugal, Sofa Show, Chigaco and Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, USA.
1999 – As idades do Azul, IEFP, Milan and Florence, Italia.
– One Thousand and One Drawings, Artist Space Gallery, New York, USA.
1998 – 3 anos de Cerâmica do Ar.Co, Museu Nacional do Azulejo, Lisbon.
1997 – No small feet, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, USA.
– Clay without boundaries, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, USA.
1996 – Tea Pot Show, Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, USA.
1994 – Ceramic Sculpture, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, USA.
1993 – Last Critique, Pro Art Gallery, St Louis, Missouri, EUA.
– Biennial of Young Mediterranean Artists, Contemporary Art Museum, Croatia and Yugoslavia.
1992 – Bienal de Arte de Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal.
– Cerâmica e Irreverência, Monsaraz, Portugal.
1991 – Biennale di Ceramica, Pallazo della Espozicioni, Faienza, Italia.
PROJECTS
2012 – Bestiario, corks in bisquit Vista Alegre, Lisbon.
2011 – Commemorative work celebrating 125 years of Bordalo Pinheiro, Vista Alegre, Lisbon.
2003 – Poster for the National day of Museums, Portugal.
2002 – Project for industrial production of tiles Afrodisíaco, Revigrés, Portugal.
2000 – Tile design for the commemorations of the city of Lisbon 2000.
1998 – Azulejo Oceanos, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Portugal.
1997 – art public project with Mirtes Zwierzynski, new patterns/future visions, project with chicago students, Chicago
1995/97 – Marwen foundation, workshops with chicago students, Chicago.
PUBLIC ART
2013 – 4 sculptures project, about the four seasons, in collaboration with the nursing home “Ter Meersch3”, em Avelgem, Belgium.
2013 – Tile Panel, in collaboration with the nursing home “Borgerstein”, Mechelen, Belgium.
2008 – Tile Panel, Underground station of Alvalade, Metropolitano de Lisboa.
2003 – Tile Panels, Saikai Culture Centre, Japan.
1999 – Tile Panel, Bica do Sapato, Calçada de Santa Apolónia/Rua Diogo de Couto, Lisbon.
1994 – Project Ameritech, United Center, Chicago, USA.
ILLUSTRATIONS
– Pássaro Bisnau, Maria Alzira Cabral, Editora Leya 2008.
– U.S.A. newspapers and magazines – New York Times, New City Chicago, Elle Magazine.
– Book of Tales, by Alice Vieira.
COLLECTIONS
– Instituto Statale O’Arte per la Ceramica, Teramo, Italia.
– John Michael Kohler Foundation, Kohler, USA.
– Marshal Fields, Chicago, USA.
– Clube Português de Artes e Ideias, Lisbon.
– Museu Nacional do Azulejo, Lisbon.
– Banco Montepio Geral, Lisbon.
Contact Bela at belasilva1@yahoo.com
View the ceramic artists list.
