I am particularly fascinated with the eyes and all the incredible things we can find in them. It’s the one and only part of the entire universe where is possible to really ‘see’ a feeling, the internal beauty and monstrosity of a creature, human or not. In contrast, I love architecture and the endless capricious shapes that the human mind is capable of creating.
In general, the characters on my paintings are but the essence of themselves, the non-corporeal, just their emotional matter, expressing through its eyes their most varied feelings and contradictions living inside them. On my photographies and digital artworks, I prefer to go inmerse into the shapes of arquitecture, mixed with contemporary art to create fantastic, unreal esthetics that could be paralell dimensions coexisting with ours.
My name is Daniel Portela, an artist born in Mexico City that currently lives between Madrid (Spain) and Cologne (Germany). I’m the younger brother of three brothers and a sister. From a very early age I showed a strong interest in drawing and during my stage in elementary school I started to elaborate a lot of colorfull drawings which I sold to my schoolmates, playing at being an art entrepreneur without even knowing it. Much later, on my early twenties, I began to study drawing and painting in Mexico. After some time I was bored of drawing still lifes, flowers and landscapes and, as a result of my personal quest, I chose the self-taught path in order to follow my own style, and started drawing and painting surrealistic characters and developing an obsesion with the eyes, obsession that I still have.
During these early years of my art career, I started also to work as assistant on an advertising agency “Dare Publicidad” owned by the Spezzia family that became like a beloved second family for me. This job lead me to follow a professional career on Graphic Design which was the foundation of my later digital artworks. I love not only painting on canvas with oil, acrylic and watercolors, but also the fascinating tools that technology give us to use creating Art.
On September 2000 I presented my first solo exhibition in Matisse Gallery in Mexico City, followed by the solo exhibition of my artwork in the Cultural Pyramid of Mexico City, and in March 2001 my next solo exhibition in La Luciérnaga Gallery in same city. Subsequently, in May of that year I presented my work at Modern Art Café in a collective exhibition, and in March 2003 I was called to make two large paintings for staging “Confesiones del Pene” (“Penis Confessions”) in Telón de Asfalto (Asphalt Curtain), followed by my solo art exhibition at the lobby-gallery of this place in October 2003. These first years of my professional career in art were really exciting!
After a long break due to personal issues and sadness of my mother’s passed away, on late 2010 I moved for little more than a year to Dallas, Tx, USA, and resumed my art career. On early 2011 I started to be represented by Ilume Gallery on Dallas and participating on group exhibitions at important contemporary art venues of the city, like MAC McKinney Contemporary and The Bath House Cultural Center of Dallas, aswell one of my paintings was selected for the important annual Black Tie foundraiser event and sold for the cause. In November 2011 my work was selected and published on renowned Studio Visit Art Magazine as part of a curated selection of the most outstanding emerging artists of 2011 living in the United States. It was a really busy and happy time creating new paintings and artworks.
On 2012 I moved to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and in 2013 participated in a group exhibition at well-known Contempo Gallery in the city. On mid 2014 I moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, and began study sculpture at Casa Colomos Cultural Center, presenting my first sculpture piece “Evangelio” at Capitibus group exhibition on LARVA (Laboratorio de Arte Variedades) on April 2015. At same year I became a student of the internationally renowned mexican artist Nino Magaña, focused on continue growing my skills on drawing and oil painting.
On May 2015 I participated on art exhibition of IV Feria Internacional “Los Ojos de México” at Palacio Legislativo del Estado de Jalisco in Guadalajara, Mexico, curated by renowned art dealer, conferencist and mecenas Alejandro Rodriguez, owner of Artexal. On June of same year my artwork “Absolut F*ck” was selected for exhibition “Las Delicias del Jardín” (“Garden Delicious”) at renowned Casa Museo Lopez Portillo (Lopez Portillo Museum) of same city, which was a carefully curated art exhibition where only 16 artists were selected between hundreds of applications. This was a very important achievement for me. At same year I was invited to create an artwork inspired in mexican boxing celebrity Saúl “El Canelo” Alvarez for an auction to benefit CRIT by Teletón Mexico, another important event. As part of this fantastic time for my art career, I opened my solo-exhibition “OjoMetrías (EyeMetrics)” on November 2015 in Guadalajara, followed by “Segmentos” group exhibition in 2016 at Schnbl Art Gallery.
On 2018 I traveled to Antalya, Turkey, and three months later I moved to Istanbul for one year, absorbing the history and culture of this magical city as part of my nonstop search of growing and inspiration. Actually I consider myserlf a citizen of the world, I love to explore new cities and countries and learn from diferent cultures. In this city is where I started to learn photography and experiment with digital art. On late 2019 I moved to Madrid, Spain and made a master degree on Interior Design to complement my passion for art and design.
On mid 2020, in the middle of covid-19 pandemic lockdown, I created a full collection of artworks using watercolour technique for the first time, and presented my first virtual online exhibition with People Art Factory, called “Covidia Pandemonia” inspired in a world collapsed by pandemia.
2021 brought me a full interest in exploring digital painting, creating a series of artworks focused mostly in the split of human emotions and its contradictions, with the incorporation of my interest in architectural and graphic design style Brutalism, to mix on what I like to call “brutalist expressionism”. I presented a selection of these artworks on my art solo exhibition “Brutalist Dichotomies” at Arte Efímero art gallery of Madrid during Sept and Oct of that year, curated by Elías Cohen (writer and cultural city expert), becoming this my first solo exhibition in Spain. It’s in the same beautiful city of Madrid where I decided to star my professional learning on photography and started to work on my first series of artworks inspired on my own architecture and urban photographies, mixed with a post-production of digital painting and art, creating pieces very new and different from the visual style that I’ve been using in the past, which opened my visions and lead me to have now different visual style collections.
For me, Art and love are the most sublime gifts that Universe gave to humans, and I feel very happy everytime that I got inmerse in my creation process and when I share it with people. So, if you like or even love one of my art pieces, or have any question or special request, don’t hesitate to contact me at support@danielportelart.com.
Welcome to my Art World!
Daniel Portela
2021 – “Brutalist Dichotomies” (Dicotomías Brutalistas), Arte Efímero Gallery, Madrid, Spain. (Sep-Oct). SOLO exhibition
2020 – “Covidia Pandemonia”, People Art Factory (Nov-Dec). Virtual solo exhibition
2016 – “Segmentos”, Schnbl Art Gallery & Beer Garden, Guadalajara, Jal. (July). Group exhibition
2015 – “OjoMetrías”, Restaurant-Galería Bahía Vieja, Guadalajara, Jal. (Noviembre). SOLO exhibition
2015 – “Las Delicias del Jardín”, Galería Gabriel Flores, Casa Museo Lopez Portillo, Guadalajara, Jal. (June). Group exhibition
2015 – IV Feria Internacional “Los Ojos de México”, Palacio Legislativo del Estado de Jalisco, Guadalajara, Jal. (May). Group exhibition
2015 – “Capitibus, 22 Cráneos – 22 Artistas”, LARVA (Laboratiro de Arte Variedades), Guadalajara, Jal. (April). Group exhibition
2013 – 2014 – Contempo Gallerie, Puerto Vallarta, Jal. (November-February). Group exhibition
2011 – “ARTNITE”, Illume Gallery, Dallas, Tx. (November-December) Group exhibition
2011 – “From Sandy Beaches to Vibrant Arts” (30th Anniversary show), Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, Tx. (September-October) Group exhibition
2011 – “Meltdown” (Annual Member’s Show), MAC McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, Tx. (August-September) Group exhibition
2011 – “White Rock Lake Centennial Celebration Art Exhibition (The Beach Party of the Century)”, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, Tx. (June) Group exhibition
2011 – “New Work”, Illume Gallery, Dallas, Tx. (June-August) Group exhibition
2003 – “Confesiones del Pene y Otras Obras” (Penis Confessions and Other Work) Telón de Asfalto lobby-galería (Asphalt Curtain) México City. Solo exhibition
2001 – “Pinceladas” (“Brushstrokes”) Modern Art Cafe, Mexico City. (May) Group exhibition
2001 – “Miradas Que Matan” (Looks That Kill)” La Luciérnaga Gallery, Mexico City. (Mar-Apr) Solo exhibition
2000 – “Si Con Mis Ojos Te Vieras” (“If With My Eyes You Could See Yourself”) Pirámide Cultural (Cultural Pyramide), Mexico City. (Nov-Dec) Solo exhibition
2000 – “Si Con Mis Ojos Te Vieras” (“If With My Eyes You Could See Yourself”) Matisse Gallery, Mexico City. (Sep-Oct) Solo exhibition
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