Biography

Kof is the cryptonym of the Portuguese contemporary artist, painter and sculptor.

His work involves everything from small drawings, paintings, sculptures to massive installations. Kof was born in Portugal in 1985 and currently lives and works near Casteleiro, a small village near the Portuguese medieval city of Sabugal. 

His early career in the 2000s was as a graffiti artist. He always questioned the role of Art in public consciousness, and his work quickly evolved from Street Art to public art through the most diverse expressions and experimentalisms.

Graduated in Equipment Design, acquired the knowledge in which the rules of functional rigidity operate, however his graffiti background encouraged the ephemerality and organicity of his works, where the degradation of creation often plays an important role, reminding us that "nothing lasts forever", and where time is a key factor in allowing spaces to reinvent themselves. 

His artworks often feature a mix of materials and techniques, ranging from precise simplicity to discordant complexity, encompassing a wide range of styles and experiences.

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"The Waste"

 

Kof's Works reflect civilizational concerns that envolve and affect us as a species, where the process of unbridled material acquisition seems to be further away than ever from the human psyche. In this way, the materials and objects chosen for his artistic processes come very often from trash or industrial wastage, trying to maintain a logical balance between the purpose and the need for creation.

" Modern cities are almost always boring and routine with their 33 shades of grey. Artists should be called upon to contribute to urban improvement and design... since this doesn't happen, they should do it disobediently. Because art has a positive influence on people, broadens their horizons and makes them more aware of their surroundings."

Kof

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What drives Kof is the belief in a mutual help society where all individuals communicate and interact, with the aim of uniting people in a creative and constructive dialogue.

Pursuing these principles over the years, he has headed and founded several artistic projects, whether of a social, experimental nature or artistic expansionism, where he has experienced challenges such as artistic management, art curating, educational and event planning.

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In 2008 he co-founded Decorhardcore, a group of artists based on Street Art, who took this form of expression to a commercial level, where the focus was indoor and outdoor murals, some of considerable dimensions as an appealing and less conventional form of advertising.

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In 2011 he co-founded Atelier 33, a space managed by an artistic collective, for art promotion and exhibition. Located in the city of Guarda in Portugal, the project started from scratch based on the rehabilitation of a decrepit house from the 1970s. For around two years an artistic work space was in operation with regular programming, anchoring varied exhibitions, musical concerts, theater performances and avant-garde cinema, happening simultaneously or rotating through the seven multifaceted rooms. 

The project involved more than 100 artists, also from other countries, as UK or Brazil, as well as some art students from local schools.

The space welcomed several hundred visitors, spreading inspiration and leaving no one indifferent, cutting through prejudices and artistic norms, typical of more conventional galleries.

The main goal was the creation of a multifaceted space that embraced all forms of artistic expressions, providing the tools for their public promotion, completely free of charge for both, artists and visitors.

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In 2015 he co-founded Cooperativa Sonheiro, an artistic and cultural cooperative, based on a social economy model, promoting the organization and dissemination of cultural and artistic activities, responding to the needs of cooperators, partners and the community.

This collective developed social projects in a variety of areas, such as urban rehabilitation issues, historical and archaeological research, tourism development, artistic promotion, education, among others.

Partnerships were created with several governmental and private entities, for instance a youth detention center, a social protection entity for young people at risk, the Urban and Archaeological Municipal departments, and the National Institute of Employment and Training.

Over five years, the Cooperative produced several large-scale mural painting works but also developed a lot of multimedia content, for example a hiking trails mapping in nature, the survey and digital reconstruction of a Roman thermal complex, projects for toponymic signs reformulation in historical medieval areas, as well as logos and graphic designs for some local artists and brands.

The project was also focused on pedagogic classes for young people at risk or with social inclusion problems, in music production, cinematography, photography and visual arts, in order to introduce them to new tools and knowledge that gave them a glimpse of how to improve their skills and do better in a near future.

" Without a doubt, a great adventure."

Kof

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