Carlos Dugos

Carlos Dugos was born in Lisbon in 1942. His first works date back to 1957, yet, one year later, he moved to Lorenzo Marques, then the Capital of Mozambique, where he attended an Art School - under the guidance of the painter João Ayres – and had the opportunity to work with Malangatana, José Júlio, Álvaro Passos and a few other Mozambican artists.

His first individual and group exhibitions where held in Lorenzo Marques and Johannesburg.

Back to Portugal in 1967, Carlos Dugos settled in Lisbon and committed himself to the improvement of oil painting techniques.

In 1974-75 he travelled around Europe; after a period in Zurich, in Madrid he enjoyed the contact with several artists and a good number of Art Galleries and Museums.

Again in Portugal, he spent long periods in Sintra and Ericeira, developing a deep study on symbolism and on the esoteric tradition, as reflected in his first works of “metaphysical” inspiration.

In 1977 he returned to Lisbon and carried on with his studies on symbolism as the spiritual language par excelence. To achieve his aim, he attended a course on theology organised by the “Leoninum Orthodoxum Institutum”, sponsored by Sorbonne, while, simultaneously he developed a long workshop practice, which works have never been exhibited as he considers them to be purely experimental. In one of his notes, in 1980, he wrote: “In Art, an idea - and the feeling that idea is related to - needs an appropriate plastic language in order to be able to express itself properly. The search for that language is constant in me. Exhibiting means having a coherent, articulate and mastered way of communicating. If you accept a public responsibility, you must possess the means to accomplish it.”

Such a responsibility was taken in 1984, when, invited by Arcano XXI Gallery, he took part in a group exhibition with eight canvases of his.

In that same year he became the director of a new art gallery - S. Bento – where he got in charge of a cultural development.

In 1988 he was invited to keep a temporary “studio” in Palácio da Pena. This was a major experience, as this palace, built in the 19th century by the Austrian Prince Ferdinand of Saxe Coburg Gotta, prince-consort in Portugal through his marriage to the Portuguese Queen, Maria II, is unique in its symbolic architecture. His two-year sojourn in that Wagnerian “eagle’s nest” definitely enriched the metaphysical urge in the painter’s work.

From 1985 he travelled around Europe again - Holland, Spain, Austria and Italy. In this same period he took part in several exhibitions in Lisbon and made a number of serigraphic works.

Carlos Dugos did some chromatic studies for public buildings in Portuguese towns and villages.

His work can be seen in Maputo City Hall, in Caixa Geral de Depósitos (the biggest Portuguese Bank), in the IGAPHE (Institute for the State Housing Property), in some other banks, public institutions, private companies and in numerous Portuguese and foreign private collections.

EXHIBITIONS

1959 - Individual - Livraria Minerva, Lorenzo Marques.
1960 - Group - Núcleo de Arte, Lorenzo Marques.
1962 - Individual - Espaço Poliarte, Lorenzo Marques.
1963 - Group - Artist in the Sun - Joubert Park, Johannesburg.
Individual –Centro Cultural Português, Johannesburg.
Individual - Salão de Exposições dos Organismos Económicos, Lorenzo Marques.
1964 - Individual - Teatro Avenida, Lorenzo Marques.
Group - Artistas Moçambicanos - Gallery 101, Johannesburg.
1971 - Group - Salão de Outono - Junta de Turismo da Costa do Sol, Estoril.
1973 - Individual - Casa do Alentejo, Lisbon.
1974 - Group - Modern Art Gallery, Zurich.
1985 - Group - Galeria de São Bento, Lisbon.
1984 - Group - Galeria Arcano XXI, Lisbon.
1988 - Group Galeria Artela.
Individual - Galeria Ara, Lisbon.
1990 - Individual - Galeria Ara, Lisbon..
1992 - Individual - Galeria Ara, Lisbon..
1994 - Individual - Galeria Escada 4, Cascais. Group - Arte Simbólica - Cooperativa de Gravadores Portugueses Lisbon..
1995 - Group – Évora Museum, Évora.
1998 - Group L.C.R. Gallery, Sintra.
1999 - Group – L.C.R. Gallery, Sintra
2000 – Individual – “Royal Games” – Museum of Water, Lisbon.
2001 – Group – L.C.R. Gallery Sintra.
Individual “ The Eternal Feminine” Art For All Gallery. Oporto.
2002 - Individual - "AVE EVA - The Eternal Feminine" - Pinacoteca Civica di Bondeno - Ferrara, Italy.
2004 – Individual – “Obra Vária” LM Gallery, Sintra.
2006 – Individual – Sala Damião de Goes – Portuguese Embassy - Brussells

OTHER INTERVENTIONS

1986/1998 - Edition of several serigraphic works.
1988 - Wall paintings for de foyer of IGAPHE building, in Lisbon.
1988 - Chromatic studies for city council buildings in Portuguese cities and villages.
1995 - Lecture on the “Symbolic and Traditional Meaning of Art” - Institute of Applied Psychology, Lisbon.
1997- - Editions “Art for All” – Lithographic works.
1999 – Hugin Editores – Lisbon, “Tradição e Simbólica do Princípio Real” metaphysical essay. 157 pages.
2000 – “Art and Alchemy” - International Colloquium on Alchemical Speeches and Practices. Odivelas City Hall.
2001 – “Creator, Creation and Creature” Lecture in “International Colloquium- Creation" - Instituto São Tomás de Aquino, Lisbon.
“Androgynous, Hermaphrodite and Sex Social Hybridization”. Lecture in “III International Colloquium on Alchemical Speeches and Practices”. Lisbon.
Graphic album “Carlos Dugos – Royal Games” - Hugin Editors, Lisbon.
2002 - "Symbolism of Stone". Lecture in "IV International Colloquium on Alchemical Speeches and Practices". Lisbon.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2001 – Graphic Album “Carlos Dugos – Jogos Reais”. Ed. Hugin, Lisbon -
103 pages.
2002 –“Ave-Eva” – catalogue of “The Eternal Feminine” cycle exhibition in Italy. Ed. Cartografica Artigiana, Ferrara – 53 pages.
“Os Edifícios a Colecção os Artistas”. Ed. Grupo Totta, Lisbon.
2006 – Graphic album “Carlos Dugos. Lisboa – os Mitos da Memória”
Ed. ACD, Lisbon 111 pages.
2008 Graphic album « Carlos Dugos - The Eternel Feminin » Ed. Museu da água – Lisbon 74 pags.

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