António Olaio
Alma materUniversidade de Coimbra

António Olaio (born in Lubango, Angola, 1963) is a visual artist. He graduated in Fine Arts/Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Porto (FBAUP) in 1987 and earned his PhD from the University of Coimbra in 2000. From 2013 to 2023, he served as the director of the Colégio das Artes. Currently, he is a professor in the Architecture program at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra and a researcher at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies (CEIS20). He is also a member of the CAAC - Commission for the Acquisition of Contemporary Art at the CACE - State Contemporary Art Collection for the 2023-24 term.

In the early 1980s, his involvement in performances led him to the music scene. He was a co-founder of the band Repórter Estrábico in 1986, and since 1995, his music, often created with João Taborda and numerous other musicians, has been a recurring feature in his videos and exhibitions. His most recent album, "Anywhere Else," features collaborations with a diverse group of artists, including Richard Strange, Victor Torpedo, Vitor Rua, Frederico Nunes, Anselmo Canha, Paulo Furtado, José Valente, Érika Machado, Silvestre Correia, Susana Chiocca, Luís Figueiredo, Ana Deus, Haarvöl, Pedro Tudela, and Miguel Carvalhais.

He has been an active exhibitor since 1986, with significant solo shows at a variety of renowned venues, including Culturgest (Lisbon, PT), Museu do Chiado (Lisbon, PT), Museu do Neo-Realismo (Vila Franca de Xira, PT), Museu Grão Vasco (Viseu, PT), Kenny Schachter conTEMPorary (New York, USA), Galerie Schuster (Berlin, DE), Galeria Mario Mauroner (Vienna, AU), CCA Andratx Art Contemporani (Mallorca, ES), Appleton Square (Lisbon, PT), and CAPC Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra. His work has also been displayed in group exhibitions at notable institutions such as Palais de Tokyo (Paris, FR), Centro Botin (Santander, ES), Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, FR), Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, FR), MAAT (Lisbon, PT), CAM - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon, PT), and Fundação de Serralves (Porto, PT).

Since 1986, he has been regularly participating in exhibitions, featuring major solo displays at notable institutions like Culturgest (Lisbon, PT), Museu do Chiado (Lisbon, PT), Museu do Neo-Realismo (Vila Franca de Xira, PT), Museu Grão Vasco (Viseu, PT), Kenny Schachter conTEMPorary (New York, USA), Galerie Schuster (Berlin, DE), Galeria Mario Mauroner (Vienna, AU), CCA Andratx Art Contemporani (Mallorca, ES), Appleton Square (Lisbon, PT), and CAPC Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra. His work has also been included in group exhibitions at prestigious locations such as Palais de Tokyo (Paris, FR), Centro Botin (Santander, ES), Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, FR), Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, FR), MAAT (Lisbon, PT), CAM - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon, PT), and Fundação de Serralves (Porto, PT).