Sofia Areal (born in Lisbon, 4 June 1960) is a Portuguese abstract painter, whose works adhere mostly to organic non-geometrical forms and a strong chromatic focus.
The paternal grandfather, Joaquim Santiago Areal e Silva, was an architect and, together with Jorge Segurado, was one of those responsible for the restoration of national monuments in the 1950s.
On the maternal side of the family, from the island of Madeira, the great-grandfather and the grandmother, linked to the arts, had studied in England.
[5] Areal’s research into forms and light brings painting and drawing into very close proximity where the dividing line mainly appears in the supporting material.
Except for oil, acrylic (which she also uses on her canvases) is also involved in her work, in close association with coloured pencils, India ink, watercolours, graphite and collage.
In both forms, she searches for a spatial balance that is seen as a harmony between occupied and empty spaces, opacity and transparency within a graphic game of contrasts, what Sonia Delaunay called simultaneous.
Indeed, apart from the material supports (which in the case of her drawings, are long sheets that already mimic the lined notebooks where people write), the backgrounds also act as a statement of energy, suggesting an Oriental-style precision of complements and completeness.
Moreover, the lines or the texture, which appear over these backgrounds in nervy veins whose dynamism is apparent in the funneling or increasing density that manages to metamorphose into areas, underline the presence of those forces and their necessary and wise fruition and effort.
Solo Exhibitions (selection): 2016 – “Restlessly: Variations on the same theme”, João Esteves de Oliveira Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal[7][8] 2015 - “How utterly shameless – Bite with all the teeth you have in your tongue”, Politecnica Theatre, Artistas Unidos, Lisbon, Portugal[9] 2014 - “113o 55’E 21o 11’N”, Casa Garden, Macao S.A.R., China.
2002 “Sofia Areal about João Miguel Fernandes Jorge's notebooks”, Casa da Cerca - Contemporary Art Centre, Almada, Portugal.
2010 “Four”, Sofia Areal, Manuel Casimiro, Jorge Martins e Nikias Skapinakis, Giefarte Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal.
1990 “Iberian Exhibition of Modern Art”, EIAM’90, curated by João Luis Pinharanda, Caceres and Badajoz, Spain.
Areal is represented in various institutional collections, among others: José de Azeredo Perdigão Modern Art Centre of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon.
[14][8] In 2016 a documentary by Jorge Silva Melo, entitled Sofia Areal: An Anti-Pain Practice was premiered at the São Luíz National Theatre in Lisbon.
[17] Solveig Nordlung made in 2013 a five-episode documentary series about five different women, one of them Sofia Areal entitled "Talks in the hairdresser" for RTP.
With texts by among others: João Miguel Fernandes Jorge, João Lima Pinheiranda, Rui Mário Gonçalves, Jorge Silva Melo, Eduarda Dionísio, Isabel Carlos, Bernardo Pinto Ribeiro, Emília Ferreira, Ana Sousa Dias, José Luís Porfírio, ou Nelson Dimaggio.
[19][20] In the same year, an interview was also published in "Portugal between generations: new reflexions about the future of the country" edited by Almerinda Romeira and also by Centauro.
[22] In 2013 Areal and Allan Hobson an American Emeritus Harvard Professor join texts and painting to launch a book titled "Creativity", it was published by ISPA.