Painting of
Manuel Casa Branca The Oak-plantations of Alentejo are called “Montado�. This space is one of ritual, a landscape built throughout thousands of years. Manuel Casa Branca gets from its symbols, the cork tree (Quercus suber), the dolmen, the menhir, the elements that create his painting. With a concerned look at the constant aggression on the ecologic and historic patrimony, he sees in the cork tree the symbol of all fallen trees, of all ecosystems in danger. The painting of a place can be a call of alert for an ongoing globalisation without scruples. A solution of balance between the forest and mankind also emanates from these trees. When people take care of cork trees, they offer them gestures of millenary choreographies. Researching about painting is also his task. Figuration is thought and built on the elements of plastic language, and exploited by contemporaneity. All these environments come together in several ways.
Quercus suber; 2H; 44; Hospitais 100 x 160 cm; 2011; Oil on canvas
Quercus suber; 2H; 42; Guadelim 100 x 120 cm; 2010; Oil on canvas
Quercus suber; 2H; 45; Carias (Work in progress) 150 x 300 cm 2011; Oil on canvas Private collection
Other work: Quercus suber, 4D, 17; Adua 35 x 40 cm; 2011 Mixed media on collage and calligraphic ink on canvas.
Quercus suber, 2Q, 2; Adua 120 x 60 cm; 2011 Mixed media, collage on canvas.
Detail
Within Shuham Wind - A move slow and inevitable 85 x 110 cm; 2012; Mixed technique on canvas
Within Shuham Wind - The land was burning his silence 140 x 85 cm; 2011-2012; Mixed technique on canvas
Exhibitions
Portugal 9ocre Gallery, Montemor-o-Novo “Organic Process� Painting by Manuel Casa Branca March/April 2011
France Maison de la Sa么ne, Belleville Arts en Beaujolais 6 to 11 of July 2011 Sculpture by Jean Buyer Painting by Manuel Casa Branca
Manuel Casa Branca Short Biography Manuel Casa Branca was born in 1965 in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal. He got a degree in Fine Arts / Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon (FBAUL). He concluded post-graduation studies in Drawing at FBAUL and a professionalization in pedagogics at the University of Évora. He was awarded in the city of Brétigny, France, in the " XLV Salon de Peinture et Sculpture l'Ilede-France". He was also awarded with honorable mentions in the " LXI Salon des Artistes du Hurepoix", St.-Geneviève-des-Bois, France, at the “II Biennial of Vidigueira”, Portugal, as well as the first prize for painting “Henrique Pousão”, at the Town Hall of Vila Viçosa, Portugal. He made several solo exhibitions (Portugal and Spain) and participated in several group exhibitions nationally and internationally (Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, England and the U.S.A.). He is a teacher in the field of Visual Arts and regular collaborator at the newspaper “Folha de Montemor”. He is also the owner and curator of the “Art Gallery 9ocre” in Montemor-oNovo, Portugal.
Manuel Casa Branca Largo Banha de Andrade, 11 7050-111 Montemor-o-Novo PORTUGAL
m_casa_branca@hotmail.com www.mcasabranca.com www.quercusmundi.blogspot.com 00351- 917 211 525