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U.Porto Memory

University of Porto Famous Alumni

Carlos Barreira

Carlos Barreira 1945- Sculptor and university teacher

Carlos Alberto Pinto Barreira was born in Chaves on 4 March 1945; at the age of 6, he moved with his family to Mozambique.

Here he spent his childhood and youth. With his uncle Augusto César, he began to develop, for fun, a number of mechanisms that would become a reference in his future career, and was encouraged by his Craft Techniques teachers to follow workshop activities.

In 1965, he returned to Portugal to continue his studies in Porto; first, at the Soares dos Reis School of Decorative Arts, and then at the Porto School of Fine Arts (ESBAP) (1968).

While he studied at the ESBAP, he received a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1969- 1973). At that time, he contacted other plastic artists, such as Jorge Pinheiro, Gustavo Bastos, Eduardo Tavares, José Rodrigues, Alberto Carneiro, Ângelo de Sousa, Zulmiro de Carvalho, Manuel Cabral and Guilherme Camarinha, he was part of the Students Association and received several awards: the "Fernando de Castro" Award, "Teixeira Lopes" Award, on two occasions, and the Award of the Engenheiro António de Almeida Foundation, for the outstanding student of the academic year 1973.

In 1972, he began to work as a graphic designer at the firm Studies and Projects Office João Baptista, with José Grade, Fernando Pinto Coelho and Luís Casal, and as a set and costume designer, having worked with the Teatro Experimental do Porto [experimental theatre company] until 1978. He concluded the General Sculpture Course with a piece entitled "Um metro cúbico contém uma infinidade de metros quadrados" [One cubic meter contains endless square meters].
The following year, he completed the Complementary Sculpture Course, and, for the first time, he sold one of his pieces at the end of the year course auction to raise funds for the final year students' trip.

In 1974, he took part in the 1st International Art Meeting in Valadares, joined the "Vigo Manifesto", which was also supported by Egídio Álvaro, P. A. Hubert, Serge III Oldenburg, M. Moucha and João Dixo.
In the next two years, he was involved in the SAAL Project (local support office that dealt with housing issues), undertaking the technical responsibility of the Seixo crew, in S. Mamede de Infesta.

In 1977, he joined the teaching staff team at ESBAP (Tenured Professor in 1988, and Associate Professor in 2000), and in 1978 he helped found the Biennial Exhibition of Cerveira. At this school, he collaborated with colleagues Zulmiro de Carvalho and Carlos Marques in restructuring the teaching of Sculpture, and participated in Meetings, Teaching Standards and Scientific Committees and in juries of academic exams, for instance, in aggregate exams sat by Amaral da Cunha, Artur Moreira and Jorge Ulisses. He was also a resident teacher at the Kassel Academy, in Germany, and participated as a teacher in the Masons Workshop sponsored by Pedra a Pedra, held in Solar dos Condes de Resende, Canelas, Vila Nova de Gaia (1986).

His talented sculpture work, marked by sense of humour and social intervention, is split into 6 series (the First Machines, the Clapping Machines, the Peeling Stones, the Mechanical Corn-field Machines, Zero Friction and Public Works) and has been shown in Portugal and abroad since the early 70's, in solo and group exhibitions, and is part of private collections and public places in Europe and Africa.

His work in the field of Graphic Design and Equipment Design was shown at the 1st and 7th Biennial Exhibition of Cerveira; he produced work for RAR, from 1977 on, and in the field of Set Design and Costume Design he collaborated with amateur and professional theatre groups (Roda-Viva, Banzé, Saltimbancos, Arte e Imagem). He produced some work for the Teatro da Comuna - "Scene Machine" (1981), for Seiva Trupe he did the set design and the programme for "Vendor of Miracles", by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1993), and the set design, programme and poster for the play "Waiting for Godot", by Samuel Beckett (1998). He was responsible for the scenography work for "Mais Mar Houvesse" [If only there was more sea], by Joaquim Castro Caldas, staged by João Paulo Seara Cardoso in Rivoli Theatre, and sponsored by the Municipal Committee Infante 94, and for "Happy Days" by Samuel Becket, performed by Cendrev, Teatro Garcia de Resende, Évora (2009).

In the 1990’s, Carlos Barreira received two important awards: the Sonae Sculpture Award and the Grand Prix at the 10th Biennial Exhibition of Vila Nova de Cerveira.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2010)