A self-made man,a self-made artist,sometimes disguised as simply a life lover undercover,an original gracious wonderful human being since his early teens simply enjoying to let feelings and emotions out in the open through fine art expression. So much has been said at random of the mystery behind the artist profile and very particularly about his adventurous life roleplaying,indeed a breathtaking episodes roller coaster live show... However,in spite of all this systematic amusing speculation,Antonio Pessoa's true and basic motivation therein lies the first key leading to the ultimate conclusion,that his personal success is after all his pure relation with art expression,not necessarily a religious ritual,but actually very simply the natural spontaneous happiness he always feels mixing colors and concepts,and in so doing coming up with specific visual results,invariably the meaningful reflexion of the heart and soul of a boy who once discovered during his early teens the great emotional symphony he could indeed experience throughout his all day long private art making sessions. Throughout the years up to now,Antonio Pessoa has been showing us basically all possibilities concerning the worldwide visual arts universe,from Modern Art to contemporary cutting edge. However,most important of all,he has been showing us the ultimate paradigmatic attitude of a truthful artist,systematically and inconditionally honest and completely faithful to his deepest beliefs,and in so doing very often,strange and crazy as it seems,putting his professional art carrer on Standby,regardless of consequences,by making solid sure that attending to the present mindfulness personal life self- commitments would always be his priority number one! "I Did It My Way" could eventually become one day the title of a book or even a motion picture about Life and Work of the artist,easily. Jazz musicien,adventurer or art maker,Pessoa has been leading a life inner-voice oriented,being unbreakable self-confidence and dynamic determination the main strong and powerful characteristics of his unique and creative personality.Fact! From a public global perspective,one could freely assume that his life could have been better or could have been worse.Speculative time- wasting,if you ask me. The art maker's life has been and it is what his heart told him and tells him to do,how to do it and at last but not the least,who to do it with! Antonio Pessoa,the Art Maker,specifically since the early nineties gets down to absolute art action,with such a striking energy to such an extent that by the end of 2002 he had actually accomplished an impressive encyclopedic art collection of over seven thousand artworks,namely oils on canvas,mixed medias,collages,acrylics on paper,watercolors and drawings. He soon excelled at the craft,through this intensive eight days a week art production twelve years in a row hallucinating odyssey,exploring all there was to explore and in so doing,reaching at light-speed a truly remarkable technical high quality level,expertise and mastery,let alone his well developed now easy-to-do talented composition and invention capacity,all this and all that,turning him into one of the most striking artists of our times. These words of mine,based upon true facts aim at capturing the global awareness to identify,gaining clear understanding and consciousness of Antonio Pessoa indeed as a living artistic phenomenon in today's worldwide art scene. One actually has to see it to believe it! Fact. Entering the artist's studio,take a sit and watching him painting,is by all means a truly unforgettable experience. It's always indeed very exciting to attend the Art Maker's studio and witness his live performance rhythm and style . Like an expert ballet dancer moving about the titanic easel,filling in the blank canvas space through successive moves of brush strokes striking precision,only to be interrupted by sudden short moments for totally focused perspective measurement and deep thoughtfully reflective mental-emotional full-swing evaluation before the composition,the show definitely goes on and by the way extremely entertaining indeed. The artist's spectacular performing style through the act of creating and arranging several aesthetics advanced essentials,managing with astounding mastery a mixture of ingredients step by step but rather quicky resulting to form the unified whole of a finished contemporary fine art masterpiece,is astonishingly cinematic,something to actually witness in order to believe it.Believe me! Absolutely,that's the way to do it. Among the hundreds of contemporary artists that I came to get to know personally,unquestionably the Art Maker,live studio performer,is by all means a unique super fine art wizard beyond compare. Anytime,anywhere,anyhow...and,well,anyway...with more or less worldwide projection Antonio Pessoa is a top reference for all art lovers from all over the planet,the best investment for the major art galleries,a solid choice for the most passionate and distinguished art collectors and at last but not the least,a great contemporary positive influence for all emerging artists on their winding way to be under their personal achievements glaring spotlight.

 

 

 

 

This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship,between the artist and the worldwide art lovers community. I know this has the makings of a good punch line,but it's a good starting point,for whatever is coming up along the communication express on- going stimulating process,concerning the life and Oeuvre of one of the most controversial and unique artists of today's contemporary art times. This is no B movie whatsoever,rather a real- life play,where anything can happen,even the unexpected,unpredictable,unthinkable,unanswered and why not,even the unacceptably unspeakable. So let the dice roll and the show must go on,mysterious,delicious,contemporary, abstract,mystic and Neo-Surrealistic. Day time art studio living or lively night shift wandering,it's just wonderful to know art is being made based upon true facts,meanwhile real-life facts are being put down in words based upon the overview across the realms of artistic imagery. Free expression speech communication provides us once again with the priviledge of being in touch,sharing and exchange criterions of all sorts,tendencies and styles. Most importantly,we are here and now setting the measures of exciting multiple ideas,ideals,concepts and references. Writing and speaking on behalf of a contemporary fine art project,larger than life,and describe what art lovers should know about The Life and Oeuvre of an artist indeed making way for one of the most charming,eclectic and visually awesome art collections in today's artscene ,turns out to be a truly fulfilling and rewarding experience,an exciting daily ritual I certainly wouldn't give up,not even for all the gold in the world. Life is a mysterious adventure for all of us,a wonderful odyssey for many of us who have the pleasurable privilege to be able to enjoy all forms of expression,all forms of art,music,literature,poetry,motion pictures,architecture...and in this particular dimension,visual arts,yet more specifically,contemporary art. And precisely it is in this awesome universe that we are indeed bound to be in touch,able to share and communicate and most importantly looking forward to grow in knowledge,perception,sensitiveness,information,edu cation,culture and artistic erudition. At the contemporary headquarters,Antonio Pessoa's Studio 1,is indeed where everything really happens.Did I say everything? Yes.Everything and anything.Particularly and most important of all within the artist's mind,right where the visualization borns,grows up,gains context and concept and usually takes off like a supersonic idea speeding up across the cybernetic timeless space! Being an artist in today's competitive world requires a whole lot more than self- control,patience,determination,artistic quality,public relations know-how and supreme imagination. As a matter of fact,indeed,one actually has got to be an ultimate genius,particularly when it comes to human resources management,aiming at implementing motivation and the perfect dynamic mindset in everyone,one way or another,among the Project collaborators team. Stimulating and difficult task,at the same time. These days,Antonio Pessoa finds himself in the middle of a truly brainstorming multiple-projects breathtaking challenges full-swing agenda. From San Francisco to Paris,from London to Madrid,his endless list of coworkers contacts and systematic phone ringing interferences,indeed turns out to be a racing unavoidable on-going play on his daily life,providing him with a substantial extra-burden from which inevitably derive scant idyllic moments let alone eventually some headaches to go with. However,in spite of this tension-filled daily- weekly flurry bursts,(what do you know)somehow the artist successfully manages to maintain a pleasurable harmonious atmosphere in his art studio,social life and professional commitments cinematic flux. Definitely,Antonio Pessoa's life could be a quality movie script,always challenging,fascinating,adventurous and new.In the mean time it's rather entertaining and even amusing just to witness the way people continuously respond to his magnet-like positive energy,and particularly witness how he always seems to be living on the edge throughout his eight days a week dynamic working rhythm,managing sooner rather than later to strengthen those whose hearts are fully commited to his multiple projects. That's life,that's the life,that's the larger than life lifestyle! Lately,one of Pessoa's best friends,Boris Dainville,asked him "How much courage does it take to be an artist?".The painter,standing in front of the huge easel,slowly turned around and told him with this childlike enigmatic expression of startled innocence on his face "The question,Boris,is how much courage would it take me not to be one." Remarkable.Fact! Since 1997,when I first met Antonio Pessoa,I've been having the almost preverted privilege to record (and therefore evaluate and consequently report...)amazing episodes,unexpected changes,absolute dillematic crossroads,sometimes turning into a truly nail- biting decision taking struggling urgency,and ending up in yet just another full-swing display of everything-or-nothing spectacular,even unspeakable,love,sweat and tears sort of adventures. Nevertheless,he always did manage to go back to his studio(wherever it might have been at any specific point of his recent past colorful life...) and get down to work once again,totally focused,coming up with new artistic surprises,and most importantly remaining miraculously untraumatized as if nothing had happened.Nothing at all! Boris Dainville,tired of London's full-swing day in day out and social nightlife british gossip,comes once again to spend the weekend with the artist,and in the mean time gets off his chest all that physical and psychological pressure and stress of his current lifestyle circunstances. The both keep each others company,enjoying good conversation as always and in so doing once again establishing their similar outlooks of metropolitan life's pros and cons,existencialism- based black humor fluent literacy,and obviously,modern art,contemporary art,poetry,music,motion pictures,gossip,philosophical frequently asked questions,History,religion and more gossip. Boris loves Antonio Pessoa's latest contemporary fine art series,and sits for hours and hours in a row talking and watching the artist at work,while they go on and on exchanging the most interesting subjects available,still with more gossip updates to go with it. At last,FM Music playing on the cosy restaurant's old 60's radio,it's 8 p.m.,saturday evening,as we have dinner in front of the sea,our visual charming beach bar and grill with a full menu of great mediterranean sea food,after which we enjoy our sunset cocktails,first chatting randomly then inevitably leading to more intimate conversation and at last planning our trip to West Hollywood. However,the artist doesn't seem to share our systematic interest in one of my favorite cities,Los Angeles,let alone leave the comfort of his Home Studio for a ( maybe boring for him... ) cultural calendar in southern California. Antonio Pessoa's Home Studio,always the idyllic fine art cathedral where his intimate friends always seem to be leaving reality behind and enter the world of tomorrow's art fantasy.Fact. That's Life! Antonio Pessoa these days is working on more than twenty canvases simultaneously,let alone the watercolors super-production taking place at his Studio 7. No big deal for the artist,if you ask me.As a matter of fact it seems quite an easy-to-do multi-tasking process for the vital energy generating dynamic studio veteran. Boris Dainville and myself,sunny Sunday afternoon,we take a sit at the artist's Studio 1 as he finishes "That's Life",acrylic on canvas. Another charming symphony of colors,or shall we say,another visual delight symphonic contemporary fine art victory. "That's Life" is obviously reflecting Pessoa's latest full-swing daily-weekly striking motion picture,from his art studio breathtaking performance to his professional commitments overloaded agenda,from his personal life's outs and abouts to the challenging multiple projects he and his brainstorming collaborators from all over Europe,United States and even Latin America,are unquestionably fully commited to and by all means absolutely excited and enthusiastic about. That's Life!That's Antonio Pessoa's colorful and increasingly exciting life at his worldwide performance very best. Eventually breaking traditional patterns,this time it was Boris Dainville who actually came up with the accurate title "That's Life",for this polychromatic polimotion spectacular and even ambiguously entertaining contemporary abstract neo-surrealistic mainstream cutting-edge fine art canvas. Furthermore,I must claim,one of my favorites among the artist's most recent series.My opinion ( as an art critic and art collector ) leading to suggest a special public attention to Pessoa's on- going artistic quality achievements,where the striking visual impact makes a relevant difference between the current average and by all means Antonio Pessoa's unquestionable innovative contemporary new line. That's quality art! That's Life !!!!