The Cascais Cultural Centre opens “A Painted Biography” on Friday, June 6th – a dedicated exhibition celebrating Eduardo Arroyo, an unmissable figure in 20th-century Spanish art. Organised by the D. Luís I Foundation and Cascais City Council as part of the Bairro dos Museus programme, the show runs until September 7th.
Eduardo Arroyo (1937–2018) was known for work steeped in social and political critique, always delivered through a vivid figurative visual language packed with nods to popular culture. Over more than six decades, his practice spanned painting, sculpture, stage design, and illustration, marked by bold colours and powerful symbolism.
Curated by Marisa Oropesa, the exhibition features over 40 pieces created from the mid-60s through to 2018. The title echoes Arroyo’s own words about his approach: “In truth, painting is an autobiographical process. You’re constantly painting your life… there is, undoubtedly, a very close relationship with one’s own life. It’s a painted biography.”
The works gathered for this exhibition come from private collections and major Spanish institutions such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Villanueva de los Infantes, and the Colección Azcona. Highlights include El último exilio (1963), Los cuatro dictadores (1963), and Robinson Crusoe (1966) – all from the Reina Sofía’s collection – alongside pieces where Arroyo experiments with collage techniques and pays tribute to European literary and cultural references.
The exhibition traces the various phases of the artist’s career, from his years in exile in Paris – due to his opposition to Franco’s dictatorship – to a later, more intimate and ironic production, engaging with literature, cinema, history, and music. According to curator Marisa Oropesa, “an essential element in Arroyo’s iconography is undoubtedly Spanish folklore, to which he gives a new meaning.”
Avenida Rei Humberto II de Itália, Cascais. Tue-Sun 10.00–18.00. Admission €5