João Abel Manta

Born in Lisbon in 1928. He established himself in the Portuguese cultural panorama from the end of the 40s of the 20th century, as an architect. This multifaceted author also has important work in drawing and painting, disciplines that have gained space in his career. He stood out as one of the main Portuguese cartoonists of the 60s and 70s, publishing emblematic illustrations of the country's political-social situation. Its interventionist and courageous character is outstanding. well known, writing Osvaldo de Sousa “é a creator with a deep civic and ethical sense in which plastic intervention is not a problem. It is a simple productive dilettantism, but a means of communication and personal and social introspection, imbued by aesthetics.

In the 80s he redirected his talent to painting. Tapestry, mosaic, ceramics and graphic arts were other areas in which he created work.

He was responsible, with Alberto Pessoa and Hernâni Gandra, for the housing blocks on Avenida Infante Santo, which would give him the Municipal Architecture Prize in 1957. In the context of public art, The pavement of Praa dos Restauradores in Lisbon and the tile panel on Avenida Calouste Gulbenkian stand out.

In 2018, Galeria Valbom honored him with the exhibition “Manta – 90-40”, marking his 90th birthday and the 40th anniversary of his most symbolic work: “Portuguese Caricatures of the Salazar years”.

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