The Portuguese-based and working visual artist Diogo Landô studied art and communication, as well as design and communication, at the Escola Superior Artística do Porto (ESAP). Before devoting himself exclusively to his vocation as a freelance artist, he participated as a designer, art director and photographer in various creative projects, which, in addition to his studies, helped shape the orientation of his artistic activity.

As an artist, he has developed a very individual and memorable style in a relatively short period of time, which has already earned him international recognition in worldwide exhibition participations.

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Multi-layered digital art – a mélange of pop art and surrealism

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He mainly creates his works with digital tools, combining photography, photo manipulation, collage and analogue, as well as digital painting. Consequently, several image planes are created, initially independent of each other, which Landô arranges, overlapping them, and formulates it into an overall picture in a partly intuitive, partly planned process.

In this way, he creates expressive works in numerous work steps, which, due to the visible multidimensionality, point to different levels of interpretation. The works, which are predominantly figurative, combine clear pop art elements with the dreamlike visual language of surrealism, which results in a contemporary and profound aesthetic.

In fact, the Portuguese pictorial works often seem like an aesthetic dream and, on closer inspection, reveal a deep look into the human individual.

He usually publishes his contemporary digital art, which he himself classifies as digital mixed media or digital visual arts, in individual works, less often in limited editions, with direct printing on aludibond or acrylic plates.

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Human identity as a universal and primary element

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The core of Diogo Landô’s digital art is, without question, human identity. He is less interested in the social, political, cultural and historical aspects, which are often associated with the definition of the individual, but rather in the human nature, which manifests itself in the essential stages of humanity: birth, growing up and death.

In his works, he often expresses this universality of existence through the dissolution of the persons depicted: they merge with their surroundings, become part of it – as if the outlines of their identity were blurred. The focus shifts away from individualism and focuses on the physical and emotional substance of the protagonists.

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Detached from time and space

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The frequent context with floral arrangements is striking, which not only lends an aesthetic component to the dreaminess of the subjects, but can also be understood as a symbol of the ephemeral. If Landô integrates places, they also act as if they were standing next to reality and immediately arouse associations with the intentions of the surrealists at the beginning of the 20th century.

In fact, objects and places do not play an important role, they are merely symbols of his works falling out of time and being located beyond reality. The artist wants the viewer to take a contemplative break and engage holistically with what is depicted.

This state of affairs should make it possible to establish a connection to the situation depicted on a mental, emotional and human level and to assign an individual reality to it by means of one’s own imagination.

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text by Andreas Garbe