ADD FUEL is the work of Portuguese artist Diogo Machado.

Photo © Expanding Roots

Photo © Expanding Roots

Photo © Tanner Colvin

Installed in conjunction with the opening of ITER, my solo show at Galerie Itinerrance.
Supported by Montana Cans.

Photo © Miguel Portelinha

The rich Burmantofts Pottery history and catalogue present in the city of Leeds was the starting point and main inspiration for this public art piece. I work through research, reevaluation, redesign and recreation, so for me it was a pleasure to work and rework this rich immense cultural patrimony. ECHOES is meant to be truly unique but also truly familiar to the community where it is installed; an echo of the past living vividly in the present.

Thank you to the entire team at East Street Arts.

Photo © Doug Gillen from Fifth Wall TV

As a metaphor for life itself, the beauty of ingenuity from the clematis flower meets the rebirth, strength and resilience to ‘rise from the mud’ of the lotus flower. This is a lesson and a motto I wanted to explore for this mural; as humans beings in the constant flow of life we must always thrive to be clever and inventive so we can rise above as the best version of ourselves.

BLOOM combines the powerful significance of these two flowers in a dynamic yet organic composition intercalated with my signature blue toned patterned tile aesthetic.

Thank you to the amazing team from Flamingo Park Market.

Photo © Diogo Machado

Installed in conjunction with the opening of YOUTH ETERNAL, my solo show at Subliminal Projects.

Photo © Subliminal Projects

An inherent part of my process as an artist is to explore and investigate. In the research process for Blink, I found out about Rookwood, and their amazing history and story (and catalogue!). ‘LINEAGE’ re-imagines geometry and bass relief fauna and floral ceramic imagery into a colourful and dynamic space between pattern and figurative, where the deeply present ceramic history of Cincinnati in now expanded into a modern urban presence.

Photo © Diogo Machado

The temporary artistic intervention ‘DEEPSET OFFSET’ for Urban Week combines ancestral Portuguese culture - iconic in my artistic work - with urban culture and modern artistic techniques, used with 3D tromp l’oeil and freehand spray with stencils.
Inspired by the architectural elements of La Défense, the accumulation of layers, tears of mosaic sheets and azulejo highlight this close link between the ancient and the modern. The chosen palette is a mix of the iconic blues, usually present in my work, with pink and purple tones which echo the colorimetry of the 2022 festival's main visuals, designed by my good friends and amazing artists PichiAvo. One might call it a mental collaboration.

Photo © Diogo Machado

It was an immense pleasure to paint this multi-surface, semi anamorphic mural in my hometown of Cascais. Being able to travel a bit around the world to do my artistic practice is a blessing yes, but to be able to paint in Cascais (after 7 years since my last mural here!) feels particularly special.

Photo © Diogo Machado

Around 46% of the population in Fall River is believed to be of Portuguese ancestry and the influence of Portuguese culture in the city is palpable and vibrant. So when I was invited by Beyond Walls to paint a mural in the city, my thought process was very straightforward; ’WE, HERE’ would be a classical and pure Add Fuel piece, blue palette with hints of yellow, tile pattens and layers on layers. An ode to this enduring community, a celebration of Portuguese presence and culture in this ’home away from home’ that is Fall River.

Photo © Tost Films

Such and honor and a pleasure to paint this mural at the legendary Wynwood restaurant Joey's.
A blend of traditional patternization with subtle Italian food elements in classic blue shades with blown up, disproportionally overlapped stand alone grey stencil elements.

Photo © Martha Cooper

’Change can be static, dynamic, and dynamical. When you look only at the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of a change, you are considering it as static change. In this perspective, you look at change as a one-dimensional shift. A situation or object was one way, and now it is different because some outside force acted on it to make it change’.
In TRANSVERSIVE, change is meant to be present in all three states, happening in the ‘before’ and ‘after’ moments, alongside a dynamic and dynamical continuous fluid and mirrored event of permutation, permanently in motion, always acting as an agent.

Photo © Diogo Machado

In Ostend, I discovered beautiful local hydraulic floor tiles dated from as far as 1900 installed throughout the city. These heavily geometric inspired motifs, with the presence of blue, grey and details in brick red and ochre are the main formal base for this mural. An artpiece for and from the community to and for the city: MUURVLOER, the integration of ‘wall’ and ‘floor’ in the same word. To make it one, to connect the gap between research and outcome.

Photo © Jules Cesure

Facade intervention and environmental ambiance for the exterior pool area.
Meant to be subtle and integrated in the building architecture, with the usage of prominently grey and blue tones to blend in with the house materials. The blue tones also connect to the ever present Algarvian sea and blue sky.

Photo © Diogo Machado

This year, we have had ample time to reflect and, inevitably, adapt to changes.
2020 will always be the year we returned to our homes, our neighbourhoods, our families, to all that is essential. To discover within ourselves the resilience and courage to face the unknown.
I wanted this intervention in the traditional Graça neighbourhood to adapt to its surrounding space, create a transition from old to new, from blue to its neighbouring green, and create new patterns based on the existing tiles in order to achieve harmony between the two buildings.
This because the mural results from a reflection on our individual abilities to adapt to our environments and realities, and to do so as a community, so that we can once again find some harmony. This work is about the way in which each of us, through our attempt to remain happy in the midst of adversity and the unknown, adapts (ADAPTA).

Photo © Diogo Machado

We need to talk about racism, intolerance and hatred. And do something about it. JUNTOS. (JUNTOS means TOGETHER). I have remained silent on this topic that is, unfortunately, so much a part of everyday life today, but I felt the need to contribute to a greater awareness and change, because everyone counts in this discussion. JUNTOS is my call for unity, respect and tolerance. In a multicultural city like Amadora, JUNTOS is a visual composition of multicultural, aesthetic and chromatic influence, which celebrates the diversity of races, cultures and skin tones that make the world more beautiful.

Photo © Miguel Portelinha

In Caldas, be Caldense*.
For a tiles and ceramics’ art lover, creating a mural in the city of Caldas da Rainha is both an honor and a tribute. Inspired by the enormous Bordallo Pinheiro, the richness of natural elements represented in his collections and the genius shapes of his objects, my intention was to reinterpret the legacy of traditional Caldas ceramics and offer the inhabitants of the city this tribute.
From the blue of secular tiles to the green of Bordallo cabbages, from the shape of artichokes to the one of decorative pots, from the master’s realistic fauna and flora to my own imaginary creatures, this wall that is now part of the city wants to be as Caldense as each one of its inhabitants.
*caldense: 1. the inhabitant of Caldas da Rainha

Photo © Diogo Machado

‘Saudade is a feeling of longing, melancholy, desire, and nostalgia that is characteristic of the Portuguese temperament. It describes a deep emotional state; a yearning.’
After a long period of time working from home and in the studio, last week I had the chance to travel to the south of my Portugal to paint this mural in the historic center of beautiful Lagos in Algarve. What an amazing way to slowly go back to a new normal. During these strange times we all live in, this feeling and message makes more sense than ever, we all miss something nowadays, we miss our loved ones, we miss hugging, we miss freedom, we miss our life. Saudade is a feeling we, as Portuguese always feel, now and always.

Photo © Diogo Machado

Painted in the heart of Wynwood, this mural aims to embrace the spirit of this wonderful, vibrant and colourful neighbourhood.
Wall logistics and productions thanks to Fabien Castanier Gallery, Wynwood Mural Fest and Golden.

Photo © Diogo Machado

This mural has a simple message and meaning: Help. It intends to strike and activate the (usually numb) nerve that every one of us has. The one that says “help your fellow human being”.
A collaboration with RED.

Photo © Chop Em Down Films

Photo © Diogo Machado

'Depuis 2009, le 13ème arrondissement propose aux Parisiens et aux touristes un parcours de fresques réalisées par des artistes français et internationaux. Initiée par la Galerie Itinerrance, en partenariat avec la mairie du 13ème arrondissement, cette balade a été pensée comme un véritable musée à ciel ouvert. En offrant un lieu d’expression à des artistes majeurs de l'art urbain, cet arrondissement écrit progressivement l’une des plus belles pages de l’histoire de Street Art et offre au quartier une renommée internationale.'

Photo © Diogo Machado

Part of my solo show DEUXIÈME DÉSINTÉGRATION, From April 12 to June 8, 2019 at Galerie Itinerrance.

Photo © Miguel Portelinha

'Depuis 2009, le 13ème arrondissement propose aux Parisiens et aux touristes un parcours de fresques réalisées par des artistes français et internationaux. Initiée par la Galerie Itinerrance, en partenariat avec la mairie du 13ème arrondissement, cette balade a été pensée comme un véritable musée à ciel ouvert. En offrant un lieu d’expression à des artistes majeurs de l'art urbain, cet arrondissement écrit progressivement l’une des plus belles pages de l’histoire de Street Art et offre au quartier une renommée internationale.'

Photo © Miguel Portelinha

Photo © Ian Cox

MIAMI VIBE taps into a reworked and ripped retro 80’s Miami feeling.

Photo © Diogo Machado

The ‘NATIVE’ mural now covers an entire block in downtown Fort Smith so when Justkids challenged me for this immense project I was immediatly drawn to the idea of exploring Native American iconology since Arkanas has such an elevated sociological connection with the Native American culture.

Photo © Justkids

Photo © Terrible Kid

Through the use of reworked patterns from different cultures such as Europe, Middle East and Africa, CONSENSUS is a visual reflection as to what the US as country is nowadays. A society of different people, from different backgrounds, often flowing in the same direction, eventually overlapping each other, but always harmoniously inhabiting in the same space.

Photos © Diogo Machado

From August 9 to September 1 of 2018, at Station 16 Gallery, the show ‘XVII-XXI’ explored the connections between old techniques of ceramic painting and elements of our increasingly technological and mediacentric society.

Photos © Diogo Machado

From that little corner in the edge of Europe I call home, my practice as an artist has allowed me to be fortunate enough to travel a little bit around the world and use paint to spread a (new and personal) vision on one of our most beloved and beautiful traditions; the ‘azulejo’.
It has been my immense honor and pleasure to leave a little bit of this vision in St. Laurent Boulevard, with the ‘SLICE OF HOME’ mural. A mural for Montreal, for the people of Montreal and with an extra flavor for the Portuguese community of Montreal.

Photos © Diogo Machado

‘Make Blackburn Beautiful’ is the motto for Blackburn Open Walls. With this in mind, the idea behind this mural is to create a disruption from the industrial and earth tones widely present in this city adding vibrant blues and local cultural elements such as the Lancashire Rose.

Photos © Diogo Machado

Included in the project Alter Ego, this piece reflects on the cultural dynamism between Portugal and Macau and how several elements can be altered and/or conjugated, either by form or chromatic, as to be perceived as integrations of a distinct yet unified heritage background.
Alter Ego was composed of 6 exhibitions spread across the city and one public art intervention, presenting the work of 27 artists from Portuguese-speaking countries and China.

Photo © Kitmin Lee

Project 'Conquista o Sonho' promoted by FPF Portugal
Supported by Câmara Municipal do Porto & Porto Lazer

Photo © Rute Ferraz

Inspired by the floral and naturalistic elements of Art Nouveau, this mural is a refreshing new take on the patterned artwork I’ve been exploring.
This site specific intervention blends naturally with the building’s architecture as well as with the immense beautiful flora present in this location.

Photo © Diogo Machado

I love floor tiles and during my research for this project I discovered that Paris has a superb variety of these, ranging from the 15th century until the present. Using a simple mirror effect for the composition and colour of this mural, I translated a part of my view of history into this wall.

Photo © Aruallan

A dimensional and formal exploration of overlapped patterned repetition in a non-linear surface where two apparently familiar elements coexist in the same space. Part of the “Disruption” series, developed around the traditional Norwegian decorative rosemåling style found in the region of Rogaland.

Photos © Ian Cox

The city of Viseu lies in the heart of the Dão, one of the oldest wine regions established in Portugal. This mural is the result of an exploration on how two distinct quadrilateral shapes can inhabit the same space and how this experience can be occupied by a semi-human component, depicted as the romantic act of simply “holding”.

Photo © Diogo Machado

The inspiration for this wall piece comes from typical Aberdonian floor tiles – small tile panels that used to decorate the entrance of houses around town. Nowadays, these small and beautiful pieces of art are hard to find, as most have suffered the ravages of time or have been covered by a cheap layer of cement.

Photo © Ian Cox

Based on a reinterpreted meeting of cultures; the traditional Norwegian Rosemaling designs and a simple flat color element that resembles the Portuguese tile, the pattern flow is uncomfortably disrupted by large areas of color that make it look incomplete, in a flowing movement, ripping the wall and revealing a rethought sense of tradition.

Photos © Ian Cox

Although his true origins are still a matter of dispute between Portugal and Spain, João Rodrigues Cabrilho (or Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo) has long been thought of a Portuguese navigator in service of the Spanish crown. Having been the first European to have navigated along the coast of the present-day state of California, I felt a connection I had to explore in this particular mural, together with the patterned tile work.

Photo ©Roderick Cooney

As neighbouring countries, Portugal and Spain have a very close relationship dating back centuries. “FLIPPED” celebrates these two very similar yet distinct cultures, each with its unique tradition of tile work. Although the use of azulejos is deeply rooted in the two cultures, even sharing a common origin, each tradition has applied and used them in different ways, including in terms of colouring. During the dynastic union between the crowns of Portugal and Spain (1580-1640), the two kingdoms shared the same monarch. This mural is my reinterpretation of the portrait of King Philip IV of Spain and III of Portugal (1605-1665) painted by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, yet flipped – a play on words attested to in the very title.

Photo © Diogo Machado

Constructed in the 1960s, the Torre neighbourhood in Cascais was originally designed to house the fishermen and their families who were relocated from the town centre. In 2016, many of the original families still lived in the more than 30 buildings. Traditionally, the fishwives, known in Portugal as “varinas”, used to sell the fresh fish their husbands brought home from the sea. My work with azulejos tries to bring Portuguese traditional culture to the present, to re-think it and help preserve it. However, the varinas are, unfortunately, disappearing. Shortly after I started this mural, I was told that some forty-odd years ago a varina named Helena used to sell her fish right in front of this very wall. Happy coincidences.

Photo © Miguel Oliveira

Formia, Italy
Memoire Urbaine

Photo © Ines Vilardouro

The Djerbahood project transformed the village of Erriadh, on the Tunisian island of Djerba, into an open air museum with the contribution of around 150 artists from 30 countries. Being able to come into contact with Tunisia's rich cultural tradition of ceramics made working on this project one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever lived as an artist. Especially when considering that the geometric and organic elements present in Tunisian and North-African ceramics have been a major influence in Portuguese tile culture over the centuries.

Photo © Diogo Machado