Title: 9ª edição do SIAC arranca esta quinta-feira

Author: Not specified | Date: 2026 | Publication: Rádio Altitude

A 9ª edição do Simpósio Internacional de Arte Contemporânea (SIAC) da Guarda arranca esta quinta-feira (18 horas) com a inauguração da exposição coletiva ‘Incerteza Objetiva’ na sala João Mendes Rosa, fundador do SIAC e antigo diretor do Museu da Guarda falecido em 2021.

Summary: The article announces the opening of the 9th International Symposium of Contemporary Art (SIAC) in Guarda, starting with the collective exhibition “Incerteza Objetiva” curated by Martim Brion and featuring artists Pedro Boese, Martim Brion, Anna-Maria Bogner, Marco Stanke, José Maçãs de Carvalho, and João Jacinto. Running through June 19 under the theme “Entre o Lugar e o Horizonte,” the symposium bridges built heritage, urban landscape, and the visual arts through live creations, musical performances, theatrical shows, lectures, and workshops spanning multiple cultural landmarks across the city

Title: Arte de ver é foco da nova exposição de Martin Brion na Alemanha

Author: Luís Cruz | Date: 2026 | Publication: BOM DIA Alemanha

Inspirada na afirmação do pintor americano Robert Ryman de que a arte deve proporcionar uma “experiência de deleite” (“Experience of Delight”), o projeto distancia-se do prazer superficial. Aqui, o deleite é entendido como um cumprimento profundo que resulta da observação precisa e do envolvimento crítico com o objeto artístico.

Summary: The article covers curator and artist Martim Brion’s touring exhibition, “Experience of Delight,” featuring 25 international artists and 29 works across major venues in Berlin (Kunstquartier Bethanien), Munich (Halle 50), and Lisbon (Duplex AIR). Grounded in the conceptual framework of “O Rigor do Olhar,” the project creates a rigorous visual inquiry into the act of viewing itself, bridging figuration and abstraction while establishing a dynamic dialogue between Portuguese talent and the broader European contemporary art scene.

Title: Simpósio Internacional de Arte Contemporânea começa na quinta-feira na Guarda

Author: Lara Cruz | Date: 2026 | Publication: Diário de Viseu

Com inauguração marcada para quinta-feira (18:00), no museu da Guarda, a exposição tem curadoria de Martim Brion e apresenta trabalhos de Pedro Boese, Martim Brion, Anna-Maria Bogner, Marco Stanke, José Maçãs de Carvalho e João Jacinto.

Summary: The article details the announcement by the Guarda Municipality regarding the 9th International Symposium of Contemporary Art (SIAC), running under the motto “Entre o Lugar e o Horizonte”. Designed to connect built heritage, urban landscapes, and fine art across multiple historic sites, the programming encompasses live artistic creation, lectures, workshops, and nine dedicated exhibitions. Among these major projects is the group exhibition “Incerteza Objetiva,” curated by Martim Brion at the Museu da Guarda, featuring works by Pedro Boese, Martim Brion, Anna-Maria Bogner, Marco Stanke, José Maçãs de Carvalho, and João Jacinto.

Title: Exposição “Incerteza Objetiva” marca 9° SIAC no Museu da Guarda

Author: Not specified | Date: 2026 | Publication: O Interior

Até 20 de setembro, há para ver instalações site-specific e um conjunto de obras, desde o abstrato ao figurativo, de fotografia, escultura e pintura de Martim Brion, também responsável pela curadoria da mostra, Pedro Boese, Anna-Maria Bogner, Marco Stanke, José Maçãs de Carvalho e João Jacinto.

Summary: The article highlights the closing phase of the 9th International Symposium of Contemporary Art (SIAC) in Guarda, which commenced with the opening of the collective exhibition “Incerteza Objetiva” in memory of SIAC founder João Mendes Rosa. Curated by Martim Brion, the exhibition features site-specific installations, photography, sculpture, and painting spanning abstract to figurative practices by artists Pedro Boese, Anna-Maria Bogner, Marco Stanke, José Maçãs de Carvalho, João Jacinto, and Martim Brion himself. Running through September 20 at the Museu da Guarda, the show anchors a broader festival program designed to bridge built heritage, urban space, and contemporary art.

Title: Projeto de curador português reúne obras de 25 artistas em Berlim, Munique e Lisboa

Author: Joana de Sousa Dias | Date: 2026 | Publication: LUSA (Agência de Notícias de Portugal)

Inspirada na afirmação do pintor americano Robert Ryman de que a arte deve proporcionar uma ‘experiência de deleite’ (‘Experience of Delight’), o projeto distancia-se do prazer superficial. Aqui, o deleite é entendido como um cumprimento profundo que resulta da observação precisa e do envolvimento crítico com o objeto artístico.

Summary: The dispatch details curator and artist Martim Brion’s multi-city project “Experience of Delight,” featuring 25 international artists showcasing 29 works across major exhibition spaces in Berlin, Munich, and Lisbon. Framed by the conceptual thesis “O Rigor do Olhar,” the exhibition establishes a critical dialogue between abstraction and figuration, placing Portuguese artists alongside international peers to facilitate cross-European networks and challenge current conceptualist tropes

Title: A Fuga do Tempo

Author: Not specified | Date: 2025 | Publication: Universidade de Aveiro (Desenho com o Pensamento)

A Fuga do Tempo é uma exposição/instalação de Martim Brion que se centra na distribuição espacial da obra e na sua dimensão temporal. Do ponto de vista formal, são estabelecidas relações de cor, forma, luz e linha.

Summary: This press feature announces Martim Brion’s solo installation A Fuga do Tempo, hosted at the Casa-projeto (Campus da Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão de Águeda, Universidade de Aveiro) from September 6 through October 31, 2025. The exhibition examines spatial distribution and temporal boundaries through precise formal investigations of color, geometry, light, and line. Structured around a visual diary, the installation weaves together literary allusions, personal and external commentary, digital drawings, and manipulated photography. Notably, Brion contrasts his digital works with four small-scale canvases that shift the methodology back to gestural, analog painting—using distinct technical avenues to converge on a unified focal point in a race against time. The release also outlines Brion’s multidisciplinary trajectory across international relations, strategy consulting, Sotheby’s Institute, Christie’s, and Gagosian Gallery, emphasizing the evolving intellectual coherence of his artistic practice since his debut in 2014.

Title: Em nome do pai, da filha e do neto: Areal³ mostra que a arte viaja no ADN, numa exposição que é também uma homenagem a António Areal

Author: André Sousa | Date: August 29, 2025 | Publication: Expresso

Cresço a ver o trabalho do meu avô, o trabalho da minha mãe, do meu pai também, e como é que isso me afeta a mim, como artista”, explica Martim Brion, artista e curador da exposição… “O tema é sempre o mesmo, as ligações e desconexões entre os três, o que temos em comum, o que não temos”, refere Martim, “há esse lado, que me parece sempre interessante, e, ao mesmo tempo, um lado também de manter o trabalho do António Areal mais vivo e presente.

Summary: This profile examines the intergenerational lineage and creative interplay within the three-generation exhibition “Areal3 [Areal ao cubo] – Nada com sem propósito”, hosted at the Centro Cultural de Cascais in collaboration with the D. Luís I Foundation. Curated by artist Martim Brion, the exhibition features works by his grandfather António Areal, his mother Sofia Areal, and Brion himself, exploring how shared heritage intersects with distinct individual artistic visions. The article details the conceptual connections between António’s structured geometric rigor and egg motifs (A História Dramática de um Ovo), Sofia’s gestural, vibrant circular abstractions, and Brion’s practice, which bridges minimalist geometry, conceptual photography, and literary-philosophical themes. Through interviews with Sofia Areal and Martim Brion, the feature highlights core themes of creative independence, intergenerational artistic dialogues, and the physical adaptation of lineage across medium, form, and discipline.

Title: Martim Brion / Günther Förg – Constructing the visible

Author: Not specified | Date: 2025 | Publication: bbkult.net

Das große Interesse an Architektur, Klarheit und geometrischen, klaren Formen ist auch bei Martim Brion zu finden. Brions Arbeit ist gleichfalls eine Kombination aus verschiedenen, zusammenfließenden Interessen, von der Verwendung literarischer Referenzen bis hin zur Suche nach einer ausgefeilten, ausgewogenen Form in seiner bildhauerischen Arbeit.

Summary: The dual exhibition Constructing the Visible, presented at Galerie Isabelle Lesmeister in Regensburg from February 5 through April 5, 2025, pairs works by Lisbon-born artist Martim Brion (b. 1986) with those of the seminal German artist Günther Förg (1952–2013). The preview highlights a shared conceptual focus on architectural rhythm, geometric clarity, and formal rigor—trademark qualities influenced in Förg’s oeuvre by European Modernism and American Minimal Art. The text emphasizes how Brion extends these architectural and spatial inquiries within his own contemporary practice, balancing refined sculptural forms, digital explorations, literary frameworks, and an ongoing photographic visual diary.

Title: Berlim acolhe exposição com curadoria portuguesa

Author: Fabiana Bravo | Date: 2025 | Publication: bomdia.eu

QA exposição coletiva “Cycles of Reality”, com curadoria do artista português Martim Brion, inaugura no próximo dia 16 de maio, às 18h30, no Kunstquartier Bethanien, em Berlim. A mostra reúne obras de 22 artistas contemporâneos que exploram, a partir de diferentes perspetivas, a natureza transformadora da existência e os múltiplos significados da realidade.

Summary: This press feature reports on the upcoming group exhibition Cycles of Reality, curated by artist Martim Brion, opening May 16 at Berlin’s Kunstquartier Bethanien. The ambitious presentation gathers works by 22 contemporary artists—including Alexandre Baptista, Pedro Boese, João Motta Guedes, and Brion himself—to investigate the transformative nature of existence and the fluid layers of human perception. Staged at one of Berlin’s key cultural institutions, the exhibition underscores Brion’s signature interdisciplinary philosophy, bridging photography, sculpture, and drawing to explore the hybrid, continuous space where contemporary art and reality intersect.

Title: Ciclo “Desenho como Pensamento” prossegue com exposição/instalação de Martim Brion

Author: Carolina Barata | Date: 2025 | Publication: Central Press (centralpress.pt)

A obra de Brion revela uma ‘prática diversificada e evolutiva, que passou a englobar mais campos e interesses à medida que amadureceu, sem nunca perder a sua consistência e foco’…

Summary: This feature covers the fourth iteration of the Desenho como Pensamento (Drawing as Thought) initiative, co-organized by the University of Aveiro and the Municipality of Águeda, centered on Martim Brion’s solo exhibition and installation A Fuga do Tempo at the Casa-projeto on the ESTGA Campus. Opening on September 6, 2025, and running through October 31, 2025—alongside concurrent presentations by artists Paulo Lisboa and José Loureiro—Brion’s work probes spatial distribution and temporal constraints through a structured visual diary that merges digital drawings, manipulated photography, and literary commentary. The press brief highlights Brion’s international background across international relations, strategy consulting, studies at the Royal College of Art, and art market institutions, framing his practice as a highly matured, multidisciplinary approach that balances expanding conceptual interests with unyielding formal focus.

Title: AREAL³ – Nada com sem propósito, de António Areal, Martim Brion e Sofia Areal

Author: Not specified | Date: 2025 | Publication: Cultura Cascais (cultura.cascais.pt)

Esperamos que esta exposição que apresenta uma visão destas três gerações de artistas da mesma família, um caso invulgar, seja algo que proporcione uma quarta perspetiva distinta, a do espetador, que pode estar familiarizado com algumas das obras ou artistas apresentados, mas não com todos e provavelmente menos com as suas ligações e desconexões

Summary: Presented at the Centro Cultural de Cascais by the D. Luís I Foundation in collaboration with the Cascais Municipality, AREAL³ Nada com sem propósito brings together an extraordinary three-generation artistic lineage featuring António Areal, Sofia Areal, and Martim Brion, who also serves as curator. Running from May 3 through July 13, 2025, this comprehensive survey spans painting, sculpture, photography, textiles, drawing, and ceramics to trace how shifting historical contexts have shaped each artist’s investigation of form and medium. The institutional presentation juxtaposes António Areal’s landmark contribution to mid-century Portuguese figuration and Nouveau Réalisme with Sofia Areal’s intuitive, gesture-driven abstraction and Martim Brion’s refined, multidisciplinary visual language. By articulating the underlying continuities and dissonances across decades, the exhibition invites the audience to construct a vital fourth perspective on this rare family trajectory

Title: Areal³ – Nada com sem propósito

Author: Carlos Carreiras & Martim Brion | Date: 2025 | Publication: Fundação D. Luís I (fundacaodomluis.pt)

Esta exibição eclética simboliza, primordialmente, a vida de quem vai crescendo a observar a mestria dos mais experientes para vincar uma identidade, reforçando-a com estilos dispares de cada autor, influenciados e unidos por laços de sangue.

Summary: Published by the Fundação D. Luís I to mark the exhibition at the Centro Cultural de Cascais (running May 3 through July 13, 2025), this institutional feature examines Areal³ – Nada com sem propósito, a major presentation bringing together three generations of artistic practice within a single family lineage: António Areal, Sofia Areal, and Martim Brion. Spanning painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textiles, and written text, the survey transcends conventional thematic boundaries to examine how creative identities develop through inherited legacy and mutual artistic observation. Framed by contributions from Carlos Carreiras, Mayor of Cascais, and curatorial commentary by Martim Brion written from Munich, the showcase illuminates the dialogue between three distinct generational realities—two active and one inherited—inviting the viewer into an unusual, four-dimensional meditation on connection, influence, and formal divergence

Title: Trois générations de la famille Areal réunies en exposition à Cascais

Author: Institutional / Uncredited | Date: 2025 | Publication: portugalfrance.com

L’objectif de l’exposition, selon le commissariat, est « de présenter une vision de ces trois générations d’artistes de la même famille, un cas inhabituel, » que certains visiteurs peuvent connaître individuellement, « mais pas tous, et probablement moins avec leurs connexions et déconnexions. »

Summary: Organized by the D. Luís I Foundation with the support of the Municipality of Cascais under the Bairro dos Museus framework, this press feature reviews the landmark survey at the Centro Cultural de Cascais bringing together three generations of the Areal artistic dynasty. Spanning painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, writing, ceramics, and textiles, the exhibition examines distinct creative realities across several decades, centered on evolving dialogues of color, line, and form. The publication traces this generational continuum starting with António Areal (1934–1978), a key figure in 20th-century Portuguese art who mediated the transition from orthodox Surrealism to Gesturalism, Pop Art, and Nouveau Réalisme; continuing through his daughter Sofia Areal (b. 1960), a prominent contemporary visual artist acclaimed for her vibrant, intuitive abstract compositions; and culminating in her son Martim Brion (b. 1986), whose multidisciplinary practice bridges sculpture, digital art, photography, and literary frameworks in search of formal balance. Curated to reveal a rare family legacy, the presentation encourages viewers to navigate the nuanced connections and formal divergences between three generations of artists.

Title: Wie groß die Möglichkeiten des Minimalen sind („Constructing the Visible“: Isabel Lesmeister konfrontiert Arbeiten von Martim Brion mit denen von Günther Förg)

Author: Peter Geiger | Date: 2025 | Publication: Mittelbayerische Zeitung

In seiner Kunst, die vordergründig so geschlossen und fast monolithisch wirkt, da gibt es nichts Pures, nichts Reines – alles ist gemischt! Er bedient sich an unterschiedlichen Stellen der Kunstgeschichte und bewegt sich zwischen den Genres.

Summary: In this critical review of the exhibition Constructing the Visible at Galerie Isabelle Lesmeister in Regensburg, critic Peter Geiger details the pairing of Lisbon-born, Munich-based artist Martim Brion with the late German master Günther Förg. Initiated by gallery founder Isabel Lesmeister and curator Mathias Listl, the presentation juxtaposes Förg’s iconic geometric works from the 1990s against Brion’s rigorous spatial constructions, demonstrating the expansive potential within Minimalist frameworks. Geiger highlights Brion’s refusal of formal “purity” in favor of nuanced conceptual mixtures—ranging from 19th-century literary frameworks (such as Gustave Flaubert) to experimental photography and impeccably crafted sculptures finished with automotive lacquer. Ultimately, the review frames Brion’s multi-genre practice as an intellectual and aesthetic “school of seeing,” where precise grid structures, color interactions, and structural breaks subtly recalibrate the viewer’s perception of space and reality.

Title: The best of Cascais this month

Author: Ricardo Farinha | Date: 2025 | Publication: Time Out Cascais (timeout.com)

On show from May 3rd to July 11th, the Centro Cultural de Cascais brings together three generations of artists from the same family in the exhibition Areal (3) Nada com sem propósito.

Summary: Featured in Time Out Cascais as a top cultural highlight, this press preview spotlights the major exhibition Areal (3) Nada com sem propósito at the Centro Cultural de Cascais, running from May 3 through July 11, 2025. The presentation brings into direct dialogue three generations of artists within a single family—António Areal, Sofia Areal, and Martim Brion—spanning a broad array of mediums including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, writing, ceramics, and textiles. The feature frames the survey as a compelling exploration of formal line, color, and conceptual lineage across decades of distinct creative practices.

Title: Farbe und Geometrie (Ausstellung mit Werken von Martim Brion und Günther Förg in der Galerie Lesmeister)

Author: Claudia Erdenreich | Date: 2025 | Publication: Regional Cultural Press

Brion stellt Harmonie durch die Anordnung her… Die Farben und Formen stellen eine sichtbare Ordnung her und wirken dadurch ruhig und ausgewogen.

Summary: This review covers the dialogue staged between Portuguese artist Martim Brion (b. 1986) and late German master Günther Förg (1952–2013) in the dual exhibition Constructing the Visible, on view through April 5, 2025, at Galerie Isabelle Lesmeister. Curated with contributions from art historian Matthias Listl, the presentation pairs Förg’s iconic prints and lithographs with Brion’s vivid abstract canvases, photography, graphics, and sculptures. The article details Brion’s background—tracing his trajectory through London, Berlin, and his current base in Munich—and highlights his restless experimentation across varied mediums to derive striking harmony from precise spatial arrangements. By transforming everyday objects into pure geometric abstraction, Brion’s obsession with color and structural order operates in continuous aesthetic tension with Förg’s unyielding Modernist lineage.

Title: Blickfeld – the inevitability of the self

Author: Not specified | Date: 2024 | Publication: art-in-berlin.de

Martim Brion greift bei seinen Objekten auf ein geometrisches Vokabular, eine markante Farbpalette und der Minimierung einer Handschrift zurück.

Summary: This exhibition preview covers Blickfeld – the inevitability of the self, a group exhibition held at GalerieETAGE in Museum Reinickendorf, Berlin (running February 28 through May 12, 2024). Curated alongside contributions from Dr. Sabine Ziegenrücker, the show explores how artist identity is formed in dialogue with surrounding spaces, material constraints, and environmental influences, questioning the extent to which artistic output is driven by deliberate choice versus uncontrollable chance.

The featured artists include Pedro Boese, Martim Brion, Ines Doleschal, Franziska Hünig, and Ilona Kálnoky. For Lisbon-born artist Martim Brion (b. 1986)—who studied Art & Business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and took coursework at the Royal College of Art—the exhibition showcases his signature reduction of hand, geometric syntax, and bold color palettes. His photographic works leave open whether the captured compositions stem from deliberate human framing or an automated pixel generator, investigating the boundary between control and coincidence.

Title: Ausstellungs-Vorschau Zwei Städte, eine Kunstrichtung: Doppelausstellung in Ingolstadt und Würzburg zur Konkreten Kunst

Author: Not specified | Date: 2024 | Publication: Donaukurier (donaukurier.de)

Zentral ist dabei die Fragestellung, wie die heutige junge Generation den Begriff und die Ideen des „Konkreten“ für sich adaptiert: Ist Konkrete Kunst noch aktuell?

Summary: This exhibition preview details 24! Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart, a major collaborative dual exhibition organized by the Museum für Konkrete Kunst (MKK) in Ingolstadt and the Museum im Kulturspeicher (MiK) in Würzburg. Marking the 100th anniversary of the term “Concrete Art”—originally formulated by Dutch artist and theorist Theo van Doesburg in 1924—the cross-city project tests the ongoing relevance of the movement through the lens of a new generation. The institutions invited 24 international artists born from 1980 onward, dividing them equally across both locations. The MKK Ingolstadt portion showcases 12 artists spanning diverse media, featuring sculptural works by Martim Brion, delicate drawings by Lena Ditlmann and Marile Holzner, strict geometric paintings by Carsten Beck, a large-scale installation by Anna-Maria Bogner, a site-specific wall work by Dave Großmann, and hybrid painting-sculptures by Marco Stanke. Meanwhile, MiK Würzburg focuses on artists including Erika Hocks, Sali Muller, Fabian Gatermann, and Vladiana Ghiulvessi. The joint project is documented in a comprehensive catalog published by Deutscher Kunstverlag.

Title: Geometrische Formen im Dialog

Author: Katrin Starke | Date: 2024 | Publication: Berliner Morgenpost

Noch viel starker als bei Boese wurden bei dem in München lebenden Portugiesen Martim Brion die Formen der Minimal Art – und ganz konkret die Formensprache der industriellen Fertigung – das gedankliche Fundament bilden. Ausgestellt ist unter anderem eine Werkreihe von Brion, in der er feine Konstruktionszeichnungen mit kräftigen Farbbalken einfasst. Doch die Zeichnungen haben nichts mit realen Bauzeichnungen zu tun, die Konstruktionen laufen ins Leere. ‘Brion ironisiert sie, führt sie ad absurdum’, erklärt Sabine Ziegenrücker.

Summary: In this review for Berliner Morgenpost, Katrin Starke reviews the group exhibition Blickfeld – the inevitability of the self at GalerieEtage in Museum Reinickendorf, curated by Dr. Sabine Ziegenrücker. The exhibition investigates the relationship between conscious artistic intention, chance, and external spatial or institutional influences. Featuring five artists—Pedro Boese, Martim Brion, Ines Doleschal, Franziska Hünig, and Ilona Kálnoky—the show anchors itself in a shared geometric vocabulary while allowing each practitioner to engage in a formal dialogue with the space and one another. Starke emphasizes Martim Brion’s conceptual grounding in Minimal Art and industrial manufacturing processes. Focusing on a series in which Brion frames intricate structural drawings with vibrant bars of color, the review notes how these technical schematics bypass real-world utility, intentionally leading nowhere to ironize and subvert the language of industrial design

Article: 24! Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart

Author: Not specified | Date: 2024 | Publication: Radio Gong (radiogong.com)

Die Arbeiten der zwölf im MKK vertretenen Künstlerinnen und Künstler sind unterschiedlichsten Gattungen zuzuordnen – darunter etwa kleinteilig-filigrane Zeichnungen Lena Ditlmanns und Marile Holzners, streng geometrisch konzipierte Gemälde Carsten Becks, skulpturale Arbeiten von Martim Brion oder eine große raumgreifende Installation von Anna-Maria Bogner.

Summary: This press feature published by Radio Gong highlights the collaborative exhibition 24! Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart (24 Questions for the Concrete Present), jointly hosted by MiK and MKK. The exhibition brings together 24 international artists born since 1980 to interrogate and recontextualize the foundational tenets of Concrete Art, drawing a deliberate parallel to the young age at which Theo van Doesburg and early avant-garde pioneers revolutionized the movement in 1924. Demonstrating the enduring relevance and fluidity of these century-old principles, the exhibition showcases a dynamic range of mediums. Within the Museum für Konkrete Kunst (MKK) component, Martim Brion’s sculptural works are featured alongside delicate drawings, rigid geometric paintings, and large-scale spatial installations, positioning Brion among the essential contemporary voices currently advancing the dialogue of Concrete Art.

Title: 24! – Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart

Author: Not specified | Date: 2024 | Publication: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München (adbk.de)

2024, 100 Jahre später, liefert dieses inoffizielle Jubiläum nun die passende Gelegenheit, die Vitalität und Vielgestaltigkeit dieser Stilrichtung in der Gegenwartskunst zu zelebrieren. ’24! – Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart’ ist eine Kooperation zwischen dem Museum im Kulturspeicher (MiK) in Würzburg und dem Museum für Konkrete Kunst (MKK) in Ingolstadt.

Summary: Published on the official platform of the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, this article features the institutional collaboration 24! – Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart, co-organized by the Museum im Kulturspeicher (MiK) in Würzburg and the Museum für Konkrete Kunst (MKK) in Ingolstadt. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of Theo van Doesburg’s initial 1924 conceptualization of “Concrete Art,” the dual-city exhibition interrogates how geometric rigor, exactness, and non-objective fundamentals continue to shape contemporary artistic practice. The project brings together 24 international artists born in the 1980s whose work spans traditional painting, structural installations, and digital augmented reality. Among the twelve artists selected to represent the current state of Concrete Art at MKK Ingolstadt is Portuguese artist Martim Brion, highlighting his key role in advancing the movement’s legacy within top-tier institutional frameworks.

Title: Centro Cultural de Lagos mostra três gerações de cor

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2024 | Publication: Barlavento (barlavento.pt)

Sofia Areal cresceu, entre outras influências, à volta da arte e do processo artístico do pai, Martim Brion cresceu entre o trabalho do avô e da mãe e acompanhou esse mesmo processo artístico. Poder-se-ia dizer que Brion é quem terá tido mais sorte, devido à quantidade e qualidade das influências, e há algo de verdadeiro nisto, mas pode-se também argumentar que é apenas diferente, uma realidade diferente…

Summary: In this exhibition spotlight, Barlavento previews Areal 3: Três gerações de cor at the Centro Cultural de Lagos, an extraordinary museum exhibition uniting three distinct generations of artistic mastery from a single family line: António Areal, Sofia Areal, and Martim Brion. The review underscores the rare lineage and confluence of influences shaping Brion’s trajectory, having matured in an environment defined by the rigorous artistic practices of both his grandfather and mother. Rather than operating merely under the weight of heritage, Brion asserts a distinct contemporary vision through an expansive range of mediums—spanning painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, ceramics, and textiles—offering viewers a compelling fourth perspective that bridges historical continuity with cutting-edge individual expression.

Title: Kunst mit Fragezeichen im Museum für Konkrete Kunst

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2024 | Publication: Bayern mittendrin (bayernmittendrin.de)

Was ist Konkrete Kunst? Und was sagt die aktuelle Generation an Künstlerinnen und Künstlern dazu? 24 Kunstschaffenden ab dem Jahrgang 1980 oder jünger ist vom MKK in Ingolstadt und dem Museum im Kulturspeicher (MiK) Würzburg diese – und nicht nur diese – Frage gestellt worden… Der Umgang von 12 jungen Künstlerinnen und Künstlern aus sieben Nationen mit der Konkreten Kunst ist im MKK in Ingolstadt zu sehen…

Summary: In this institutional feature for Bayern mittendrin, the publication reviews 24! Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart at the Museum für Konkrete Kunst (MKK) in Ingolstadt, curated by Dr. Mathias Listl. Bypassing conventional historicism surrounding the 1924 origins of Concrete Art, the exhibition re-centers the conversation on how contemporary practitioners interrogate non-representational and geometric forms today. Showcasing twelve international artists from seven nations within MKK’s galleries—including Martim Brion—the show highlights a diverse range of artistic mediums spanning site-specific spatial installations, intricate thread objects, pop-art sensibilities, and geometric symbolism. Brion’s inclusion in this curated selection emphasizes his central position in re-evaluating and shaping the trajectory of post-industrial abstract sculpture on a global stage.

Title: “Blickfeld – the inevitability of the self”: Neue Ausstellung in der Galerie ETAGE und im Museum Reinickendorf

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2024 | Publication: berlin.de (Official Portal of Berlin)

Das Werk ist ein Ausdruck des Selbst und der Art und Weise, wie sich das Selbst durch seine Umgebung bewegt. Daher zeigt das Werk eines Künstlers die Besonderheiten seiner Persönlichkeit. Hier stellt sich die Frage: Wie stark wird das Werk durch die Entscheidungen des Künstlers geprägt? Wahrscheinlich weniger, als wir denken. In welchem Verhältnis stehen bewusste, kontrollierte Entscheidungen und zufällige oder materialimmanente Prozesse beim künstlerischen Arbeiten?

Summary: This official press announcement published on berlin.de previews the group exhibition Blickfeld – the inevitability of the self at GalerieETAGE and Museum Reinickendorf, introduced by Dr. Sabine Ziegenrücker. Framed around the core proposition of “the impossibility of being exclusively oneself,” the exhibition investigates how an artist’s agency intersects with material properties, spatial constraints, and social environments. Bringing together five artists—Pedro Boese, Martim Brion, Ines Doleschal, Franziska Hünig, and Ilona Kálnoky—the show interrogates the dynamic equilibrium between deliberate control and contingent processes. Brion’s participation in this institutional show underscores his rigorous conceptual focus on structural, environmental, and material dependencies, reaffirming his pivotal role in contemporary post-minimalist discourse.

Title: EXPOSIÇÃO COLETIVA “AREAL³ – TRÊS GERAÇÕES DE COR”, de António Areal, Sofia Areal e Martim Brion

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2024 | Publication: cm-lagos.pt (Official Portal of the Municipality of Lagos)

Com uma produção mais recente e emergente, Martim Brion surge já neste século, em tempos de intervenções instalativas e pós-conceptuais, observável na sua pluralidade de materiais e suportes, trabalhando entre a fotografia (esboços momentâneos) e a escultura (pensamentos em estado físico).

Summary: Published by the Municipality of Lagos, this institutional feature details AREAL – TRÊS GERAÇÕES DE COR at the Centro Cultural de Lagos, a major exhibition surveying three generations of artistic practice within a prominent artistic dynasty: António Areal, Sofia Areal, and Martim Brion. While contextualizing António Areal’s historical contributions to 1960s Neo-Dada and Sofia Areal’s gestural abstraction, the text spotlights Martim Brion’s distinct position within contemporary post-conceptual practice. Navigating between photographic “momentary sketches” and physical sculptural forms (“thoughts in a physical state”), Brion operates with material plurality. In addition to contributing plastic works, Brion served as the curator and spatial designer for the exhibition, orchestrating the dialogue between lineage, continuity, and contemporary institutional presentation.

Title: 24! Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart – Neue Ausstellung im MKK

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2024 | Publication: ingolstadt.de (Official Portal of the City of Ingolstadt)

MiK und MKK haben insgesamt 24 ab 1980 geborene Künstlerinnen und Künstler aus dem In- und Ausland eingeladen, eingehende Auskunft über ihre Beziehung zur Konkreten Kunst zu geben… Die Arbeiten der zwölf im MKK vertretenen Künstlerinnen und Künstler sind unterschiedlichsten Gattungen zuzuordnen – darunter etwa kleinteilig-filigrane Zeichnungen Lena Ditlmanns und Marile Holzners, streng geometrisch konzipierte Gemälde Carsten Becks, skulpturale Arbeiten von Martim Brion oder eine große raumgreifende Installation von Anna-Maria Bogner.

Summary: Published by the City of Ingolstadt, this press announcement details the double-venue exhibition 24! Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart, co-organized by the Museum für Konkrete Kunst (MKK) in Ingolstadt and the Museum im Kulturspeicher (MiK) in Würzburg. Taking the unofficial centennial of Theo van Doesburg’s coining of “Concrete Art” in 1924 as a point of departure, the exhibition evaluates the contemporary relevance of concrete and non-objective principles through the work of 24 international artists born after 1980. Among the twelve artists showcased at the MKK in Ingolstadt, Martim Brion’s sculptural works are highlighted alongside diverse practices ranging from geometric painting to spatial installations. The announcement also notes the accompanying 176-page catalog featuring scholarly contributions from Mariana Aravidou, Dr. Henrike Holsing, Dr. Mathias Listl, and Dr. Theres Rohde.

Title: 24! Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart

Author: Redaktion KunstNürnberg | Date: 2024 | Publication: KunstNürnberg

Die Arbeiten der zwölf im MKK vertretenen Künstlerinnen und Künstler sind unterschiedlichsten Gattungen zuzuordnen – darunter etwa kleinteilig-filigrane Zeichnungen Lena Ditlmanns und Marile Holzners, streng geometrisch konzipierte Gemälde Carsten Becks, skulpturale Arbeiten von Martim Brion oder eine große raumgreifende Installation von Anna-Maria Bogner.

Summary: The article outlines the joint institutional exhibition 24! Fragen an die Konkrete Gegenwart, co-organized by the Museum für Konkrete Kunst (MKK) in Ingolstadt and the Museum im Kulturspeicher (MiK) in Würzburg, running from March 23 through September 22, 2024. Timed to mark the 100th anniversary of Theo van Doesburg’s initial formulation of the term “Concrete Art” in 1924, the initiative investigates the contemporary relevance and ongoing evolution of non-referential art through the work of 24 international artists born after 1980. Divided across both museum venues, the presentation highlights a broad spectrum of media, ranging from sculptural works, delicate drawings, and monochrome geometric paintings to augmented reality and immersive spatial installations. The two-city exhibition project is accompanied by a 176-page joint catalogue published by Deutscher Kunstverlag.

Title: 10 Jahrzehnte, 10 Fragen an … Martim Brion

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2024 | Publication: Museum für Konkrete Kunst (MKK)

Ich würde sagen, dass ich glaube, dass Kunst insofern universell ist, als sie jede bestehende Kultur auf dem Planeten durchdringt. Und die Idee, dass ihr Ausdruck klar und einfach sein sollte, spricht mich an, da ich glaube, dass jede Form des Ausdrucks und der Kommunikation diese Punkte beinhalten sollte.

Summary: In this institutional artist profile published by the Museum für Konkrete Kunst Ingolstadt, Lisbon-born and Munich-based artist Martim Brion unpacks his position relative to historical Concrete Art. While citing key movement figures such as Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian, Günter Fruhtrunk, and Max Bill as formative influences, Brion explicitly clarifies that he does not categorize his own practice strictly within the movement’s boundaries. He critiques original movement manifestos as overly dogmatic, while championing clarity, universal communication, and color as vital components of non-objective visual expression. Ultimately, Brion emphasizes that while the term “Concrete Art” holds immense historical value, contemporary artistic practice inherently operates as a fluid weave, continuously combining past artistic concepts with new forward-looking ideas.

Title: Blickfeld. The inevitability of the self

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2024 | Date: 2024 | Publication: Museum Reinickendorf

In welchem Verhältnis stehen bewusste, kontrollierte Entscheidungen und zufällige oder materialimmanente Prozesse beim künstlerischen Arbeiten? Welchen Einfluss haben der Ausstellungsraum und das soziale Umfeld auf die jeweiligen Arbeiten?

Summary: Presented at the GalerieETAGE in Museum Reinickendorf, Berlin, from February 28 through May 12, 2024, the group exhibition Blickfeld. The inevitability of the self features works by Pedro Boese, Martim Brion, Ines Doleschal, Franziska Hünig, and Ilona Kálnoky. Grounded in a philosophical reflection by Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell regarding art as an intuitively discovered process rather than a formulaic skill, the collaboratively conceived project probes the tension between individual agency and external influences. By examining how personal identity navigates and reacts to external environments, the five participating artists interrogate the interplay between deliberate artistic choices, material-driven processes, and the physical and social contexts of exhibition spaces.

Title: Miguel Albuquerque inaugura amanhã exposição “Coleções Partilhadas”

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2023 | Publication: Jornal da Madeira

‘Coleções partilhadas’ assume-se, assim, como um exercício imersivo que se escora na diversidade existente nos acervos destas duas instituições, para dar visibilidade a obras menos conhecidas e tirar partido da riqueza estilística e do experimentalismo que orientaram os últimos 60 anos de produção artística contemporânea em Portugal e, mais recentemente, no restante mundo lusófono.

Summary: This press feature covers the opening of Coleções Partilhadas: Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Madeira – Caixa Geral de Depósitos, a landmark exhibition organized to mark the 30th anniversary of Mudas. Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Madeira. Co-curated by Márcia de Sousa and Lúcia Marques, the collaborative project brings together two major institutional collections to stage a dialogue across six decades of Lusophone artistic production. Featuring 86 works across painting, sculpture, photography, video, and installation, the exhibition showcases 45 cross-generational artists—including blue-chip names such as Martim Brion, Paula Rego, Pedro Cabrita Reis, Helena Almeida, and Vieira da Silva—and runs through May 28, 2023.

Title: Sofia Areal em Leiria, Martim Brion em Lisboa

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2023 | Publication: Jornal de Letras, Artes e Ideias (JL)

A curadoria é de Martim Brion, seu filho, também ele artista (N. 1986), a residir em Munique, que inaugura, a 9, Produção (re)produção, na galeria Nave, em Lisboa, uma exposição em que propõe aos visitantes que produzam as suas próprias narrativas, a partir de uma pesquisa em tempo real.

Summary: The cultural feature previews two concurrent projects highlighting the artistic connection and distinct practices of artist Sofia Areal and Munich-based artist and curator Martim Brion. At the Banco das Artes Galeria (BAG) in Leiria, Areal presents Diálogos Visuais, an exhibition curated by Brion featuring works primarily from the 2000s that explore rich chromatic variations while honoring director and theater maker Jorge Silva Melo. Simultaneously in Lisbon, gallery Nave stages Brion’s solo exhibition Produção (re)produção, an interactive presentation that invites audiences to generate their own narratives through a process of real-time inquiry and discovery.

Title: Martim Brion expõe “Produção (re) produção” na galeria NAVE

Author: Ana Pina | Date: 2023 | Publication: O Jornal Económico

O que se entende por produção tem vindo a mudar com o tempo, assim como os métodos de fazer arte. A própria palavra, produção, que vem do latim, producere – ato ou efeito de produzir -, deixou de significar algo artesanal para passar mais frequentemente a significar um processo industrial que tem métodos de produção bem planeados e definidos.

Summary: Announcing the opening of Martim Brion’s debut solo exhibition, Produção (re) produção, at Galeria NAVE in Lisbon (running February 9 through March 24, 2023), this feature highlights the Munich-based artist’s first solo show with the gallery since joining its roster in 2022. Rejecting the static resolution of a traditional exhibition “happy end,” Brion converts the gallery into an active, open-ended research environment, inviting visitors to leverage artistic tools for real-time visual assembly and immediate (re)production. By shifting the burden of narrative creation onto the viewer’s subconscious projection, the project interrogates how conceptual definitions of “production”—tracing back to the Latin producere—have evolved from handcrafted origin to industrialized systematic process, while probing the metaphysical space where creative ideas materialize.

Title: Fazer, quando não souber o que fazer

Author: Daniel Madeira | Date: 2023 | Publication: Umbigo Magazine

Em O que fazer?, de Martim Brion e com curadoria de João Silvério, não deixei de sentir essa feliz curiosidade, já numa fase evidentemente mais maturada: o que esconde o artista dentro das suas caixas.

Summary: In this review for Umbigo Magazine, critic Daniel Madeira reflects on Martim Brion’s exhibition O que fazer?, curated by João Silvério at the Museu Ibérico de Arqueologia e Arte de Abrantes (MIAA). Framing the work through the legacy of Minimalism—referencing Tony Smith’s inquiry into what resides inside geometric forms—Madeira explores how Brion orchestrates a deliberate shift across mediums, moving from rhythmic, brightly colored sculpture to two-dimensional photography and text. The photographic series pushes beyond traditional Euclidean space by simulating three-dimensionality through spectator interaction, while the textual elements provide an intellectual guide that invites internal conceptualization. Ultimately, the review underscores the exhibition’s rigorous balance of form, color, and space as a mature response to the existential inquiry posed in its title.

Title: Von der Freiheit in der abstrakten Form

Author: Christian Rein | Date: 2023 | Publication: Aachener Zeitung

Am weitesten dehnen wohl die Textarbeiten von Martim Brion (Jahrgang 1986) den Begriff von der Konkreten Kunst. Bedeutungsträchtig kommen sie daher, wenn er schreibt: ‘What is to be done with time and place? I would say nothing, let the place be and the time carry on.’

Summary: In this review for the Aachener Zeitung, art critic Christian Rein explores the group exhibition “Über das, was es ist”, presented at the non-profit project space Raum für Gäste in Aachen. Bringing together contemporary positions in Concrete Art by Pedro Boese, Guido Winkler, and Martim Brion, the exhibition utilizes the venue’s split storefront architecture to create a spatial and visual conversation across the street. Rein emphasizes how the presentation champions perceptual freedom beyond representation, contrasting Winkler’s sharp, architectural wall paintings and Boese’s layered geometric printmaking with Brion’s text installations. Pushing the theoretical framework of Concrete Art to its furthest boundary, Brion’s language-driven pieces construct profound conceptual voids, inviting viewers to reflect on space, duration, and non-intervention with characteristic precision.

Title: ‘Regulative Idea’. Um encontro de multiculturalidade

Author: Madalena Queirós | Date: 2023 | Publication: Contacto

O título da exposição surge ‘da ideia de uma hipótese não comprovada de como nós, com diferentes contextos culturais, como é que nos entendemos […] Muitas vezes parece que nos entendemos de uma forma superficial, porque depois surgem vários equívocos com a língua.’

Summary: In this profile for the Luxembourg-based newspaper Contacto, journalist Madalena Queirós spotlights Martim Brion’s exhibition “Regulative Idea” at the Centro Cultural Português Camões in Luxembourg. The article explores Brion’s non-linear transition into fine arts—moving from degrees in business and political science and a career in financial consulting to art history and business studies at Sotheby’s, before dedicating himself entirely to studio practice. Focusing on his cross-disciplinary practice encompassing immediate photographic diaries, deliberate sculptures, and recent 3D-printed experimental works (Process Description Series), the feature emphasizes how Brion’s experience as a global citizen informs his investigation into linguistic friction, shared cultural codes, and the complexities of communication in increasingly multicultural societies.

Title: Vila Nova da Barquinha | Exposição de Martim Brion | “Ponto Contraponto”

Author: Not specified | Date: 2022 | Publication: Entroncamento Online

Publication: Entroncamento Online

Nesta exposição textos e esculturas participam de um mesmo processo de negação da subjetividade e da manualidade […] criando um discurso equilibrado entre a liberdade e a razão, entre a leveza e o rigor.

Summary: This feature previews Martim Brion’s solo exhibition Ponto Contraponto, presented at the Galeria do Parque in Vila Nova da Barquinha under the auspices of the EDP Foundation and curated by prominent curator João Pinharanda. Framing Brion as a vital presence within contemporary Portuguese art, the coverage focuses on how the exhibition deliberately negates conventional notions of artist handiwork and subjective expression through pristine, mechanically precise sculptures and descriptive text works. Pinharanda notes that while Brion engages directly with mid-20th-century Conceptual Art lineages, he refreshes the canon by embedding deliberate linguistic traps, omissions, and vivid visual chromatic plays into the work. The resulting dialogue between formal geometry and textual instruction creates a sophisticated tension—an architectural game that balances conceptual rigor with aesthetic lightness.

Title: VN Barquinha | “Ponto Contraponto”, de Martim Brion, na Galeria Municipal

Author: Ana Rita Cristóvão | Date: 2022 | Publication: Médio Tejo

A mão do artista não tocou nos objetos que nos apresenta como arte: pensou e redigiu os textos, escolhendo as cores e os tipos de letra em que seriam apresentados; desenhou e encomendou as formas e cores das esculturas…

Summary: Writing for Médio Tejo, journalist Ana Rita Cristóvão spotlights Martim Brion’s exhibition Ponto Contraponto at the Galeria do Parque in Vila Nova da Barquinha, curated by João Pinharanda in partnership with the EDP Foundation. Describing Brion as one of the most promising figures in contemporary Portuguese art, the coverage highlights his systematic negation of manual authorship in favor of conceptual execution, where industrial fabrication and precise textual prompts displace direct physical intervention. Beyond exploring the exhibition’s dialogue between linguistic traps, chromatic balance, and formal geometry, the article provides a comprehensive overview of Brion’s international career trajectory, documenting major milestone exhibitions and curatorial projects across Lisbon, Berlin, Munich, and Madeira.

Title: Barquinha recebe exposição “Ponto Contraponto”, de Martim Brion

Author: José Lagiosa | Date: 2022 | Publication: Beira News

Nesta exposição textos e esculturas participam de um mesmo processo de negação da subjectividade e da manualidade […] criando um discurso equilibrado entre a liberdade e a razão, entre a leveza e o rigor.

Summary: Reporting for Beira News, José Lagiosa covers the opening of Martim Brion’s solo exhibition Ponto Contraponto at the Galeria do Parque in Vila Nova da Barquinha, held in collaboration with the EDP Foundation and curated by João Pinharanda. Positioned as a key project from one of contemporary Portuguese art’s most compelling emerging voices, the exhibition establishes a deliberate dialogue between crisp text installations and immaculate, industrially fabricated sculptures. The coverage emphasizes how Brion builds upon mid-century conceptual traditions by intentional omissions, linguistic tricks, and intense chromatic plays—forcing the viewer to reconstruct absent realities in their imagination while maintaining an exquisite equilibrium between intellectual rigor and visual lightness.

Title: Form Constriction

Author: Not specified | Date: 2022 | Publication: Tip Berlin

Offenbar fordern Rechtecke und Kanten Künstler:innen heraus. Weshalb Rundungen, wie sie der Münchner Konzeptfotograf Dieter Hammer in der Natur findet oder der Berliner Maler Michael Bause sie auf Baumwolle bringt (Abb.), besonders bestechen.

Summary: This press snippet previews the group exhibition Form Constriction at Galerie opbo in Berlin’s Wedding district. Bringing together eight artists from Germany and France—each contributing two works precisely sized at 80 × 60 centimeters—the exhibition investigates how contemporary practice confronts and navigates formal artistic constraints. The commentary highlights a productive tension within the space: while rigid geometric boundaries and sharp angles serve as structural challenges, organic and curved forms—most notably captured in Dieter Hammer’s conceptual nature photography and Michael Bause’s tactile compositions on cotton—deliver a uniquely persuasive visual counter-narrative.

Title: Freisinger Schafhof: Nachtschwärmern auf der Spur

Author: Peter Becker | Date: 2022 | Publication: Süddeutsche Zeitung

Brion untersucht dagegen das ästhetische Potenzial von Farbe und Form in seinen fotografischen Arbeiten. ‘Roxy P’ ist eine Serie mit Aufnahmen von Flüssigkeiten. Diese werden mit einer starken Lichtquelle von der Seite her angestrahlt. Dabei entstehen wolkenähnliche Figuren, die ständig in Bewegung bleiben.

Summary: In this exhibition feature for Süddeutsche Zeitung, journalist Peter Becker previews the group exhibition “Nachtsicht” (Night Vision) at the Europäisches Künstlerhaus im Freisinger Schafhof. Presented under the venue’s broader annual theme of “Light and Shadow,” the exhibition creates a dialogue between painting and photography to examine how different media construct light and navigate nocturnal atmospheres. Alongside Dirk Pleyer’s nocturnal canvases, Jürgen Bürgin’s cinematic street photography, and Pavel Mrkus’s immersive video projection, Martim Brion’s abstract photographic series Roxy P stands out for its rigorous study of fluid motion and luminosity. By subjecting liquid forms to intense lateral lighting, Brion captures ethereal, cloud-like structures that continually evolve, transforming raw light and color into a sophisticated meditation on visual perception.

Title: Mostra de Martim Brion na Galeria do Parque até sábado em Vila Nova da Barquinha

Author: Rafael Ascensão | Date: 2022 | Publication: Medio Tejo mediotejo.net

As esculturas, digamos que, são o meu trabalho ‘normal’ e os textos são uma conceptualização do objecto de arte. É a descrição de um objecto, que poderá ou não existir mas que não está à vista. Portanto, o texto torna-se no objecto, o conceito do objecto vira o objecto.

Summary: In a feature interview for mediotejo.net, journalist Rafael Ascensão speaks with Martim Brion ahead of the closing days of his solo exhibition Ponto Contraponto at Galeria do Parque in Vila Nova da Barquinha. Curated by João Pinharanda through a partnership between the local municipality and the EDP Foundation, the exhibition sets up an intentional dialectic between textual works and industrial pipe sculptures. Brion elaborates on how his text pieces subvert conventional art descriptions by elevating pure concept into the physical artwork itself, while offering a subtle critique of abstract theories when detached from practical reality.

The interview delves into Brion’s creative methodology—highlighting his preference for pre-conceptualized planning over pure improvisation, and his pragmatic material choices (such as polyurethane paint, PVC, and MDF) tailored to best realize the intended form. Looking ahead to the exhibition catalog release planned for September, Brion reflects on the catalog’s dual role as both an aesthetic object complementing the show and a vital, permanent historical document.

Title : Abrantes | Martim Brion expõe ‘O que fazer?’ no MIAA

Author: Rafael Ascensão (with Ana Rita Cristóvão) | Date: 2022 | Publication: Medio Tejo mediotejo.net

Considerado um dos nomes mais promissores da arte contemporânea em Portugal, Martim Brion disse ao nosso jornal que esta exposição apresenta um conjunto de peças de anos diversos e evolutivos, sendo um “pequeno panorama” do seu trabalho em geral, um “diálogo entre peças de períodos e espaços diferentes”, incorporando igualmente a interpretação de João Silvério, curador da mostra ‘O que fazer’.

Summary: The coverage outlines the opening of Martim Brion’s solo exhibition, O que fazer? (What to do?), curated by João Silvério at the Museu Ibérico de Arqueologia e Arte (MIAA) in Abrantes, presented in partnership with the Figueiredo Ribeiro Collection and the Municipality of Abrantes. Framed around Brion’s position within contemporary Portuguese art, the article examines how the presentation functions as a curated panorama of his evolving practice, establishing cross-period dialogues across sculpture, photography, and text. Brion outlines how the core premise translates theoretical questions on artistic decision-making, physical execution, and viewer perception into spatial form. The feature concludes with a biographical summary detailing the Munich-based artist’s international exhibition record and institutional background ahead of the show’s run through February 12, 2023.

Title: Martim Brion expõe na Galeria do Parque

Author: João Pinharanda | Date: 2022 | Publication: Região

Martim Brion, pegando nesta tradição e herança, não se limita a continuá-la, cria um conjunto de textos intranquilos e de esculturas instáveis… criando um discurso equilibrado entre a liberdade e a razão, entre a leveza e o rigor.

Summary: Writing on Martim Brion’s solo exhibition Ponto Contraponto at Galeria do Parque in Vila Nova da Barquinha, prominent curator and critic João Pinharanda examines how the presentation interrogates the lineage of Conceptual art. Pinharanda notes that both the textual works and sculptures participate in a deliberate negation of subjectivity and manual intervention—where the artist acts as conceptualizer and composer, selecting typography, colors, and forms for mechanical execution rather than direct handcraft. Rather than merely continuing conceptual traditions, Brion constructs an unsettling tension between descriptive texts and geometric sculptures: the texts contain deliberate omissions, traps, and discrepancies that force the viewer to reconstruct imagery through imagination, instigating an ironic commentary on the art market and institutional systems. Ultimately, the review framing highlights Brion’s mastery of spatial, chromatic, and linguistic arrangement, establishing a sophisticated dialogue balanced between freedom and reason, lightness and precision.

Title: Ausstellungen 2022 im Schafhof – Europäisches Künstlerhaus Oberbayern

Author: Anton Hötzelsperger | Date: 2022 | Publication: Samerberger Nachrichten

Nachtsicht nennt sich die Ausstellung mit einer Gegenüberstellung von Malerei und Fotografie, die gleichzeitig stattfindet. Die drei Künstler Dirk Pleyer, Martim Brion und Jürgen Bürgin setzen auf der Suche nach der Darstellung von Licht verschiedene künstlerische Medien ein.

Summary: This institutional overview outlines the 2022 annual program for Schafhof – Europäisches Künstlerhaus Oberbayern in Freising, unified under the overarching thematic framework of Licht und Schatten (Light and Shadow). Among the season’s core presentations, the article highlights the group exhibition Nachtsicht, which juxtaposes painting and photography to examine the formal and symbolic investigation of light, featuring work by Martim Brion alongside Dirk Pleyer and Jürgen Bürgin. Framing the institution’s commitment to cross-disciplinary contemporary practice, the article situates Nachtsicht within a broader international slate of solo and paired installations across the year, including projects by Pavel Mrkus, Barbara Nagy, Ádám Szabó, Zipora Rafaelov, and Rebekka Bauer.

Title: Exposição de Martim Brion “Matter informs form – Language informs thought”

Author: João Pinharanda | Date: 2022 | Publication: Clube da Criatividade de Portugal (clubedacriatividade.pt)

Martim Brion balança assim entre a pureza idealizada dos meios que elege como elementos do seu vocabulário e tem ao seu dispor e a instabilidade permanente proporcionada pelas possibilidades de associação.

Summary: This press feature announces Martim Brion’s solo exhibition, Matter informs form – Language informs thought, hosted at Galeria NAVE from July 7 through September 2, 2022. Building upon works from his Ponto Contraponto series—previously curated by João Pinharanda at the Centro Cultural de Vila Nova da Barquinha—the exhibition examines the structural intersection of sculpture, painting, and conceptual inscription. Anchored by critical commentary from Pinharanda, the article highlights Brion’s systemic approach to artmaking, wherein subjective expression is subordinated to a game-like matrix of pure geometry, standardized color systems, and combinatory logic. Pinharanda emphasizes that while Brion employs the foundational parameters of physical form, his practice operates in a dynamic tension between the idealized purity of his visual vocabulary and the infinite instability generated by potential structural permutations.

Title: Duas novas exposições no Museu Ibérico de Arqueologia e Arte em Abrantes

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2022 | Publication: Mais Ribatejo

[…] confronta-nos com uma série de trabalhos escultóricos que transitam do formato tridimensional para a fotografia, para o texto e, em termos de composição, para uma estratégia formal estribada numa geometria abstrata que estabelece padrões equilibrados entre a escala e a proporção de uma paleta cromática de grande rigor e economia.

Summary: Announcing the dual exhibition opening at the Museu Ibérico de Arqueologia e Arte (MIAA) in Abrantes, this press coverage highlights Martim Brion’s solo show, O que fazer?, curated by João Silvério, presented in tandem with Luís Paulo Costa’s Dois Cafés. Formally organized under the institutional partnership between the Figueiredo Ribeiro Foundation and the Municipality of Abrantes, the feature focuses on Brion’s rigorous conceptual methodology as his work transitions fluidly across sculpture, photography, and textual media. Curator João Silvério underlines Brion’s formal strategy, which leverages geometric abstraction, spatial proportion, and a highly disciplined chromatic economy. The article reinforces the strategic importance of the Figueiredo Ribeiro Collection in positioning MIAA as a key destination for contemporary art in Portugal before confirming the exhibition’s run through February 12, 2023.

Title: Exposições da Coleção Figueiredo Ribeiro, de Luís Paulo Costa e Martim Brion, inauguram no MIAA

Author: Joana Rita Santos | Date: 2022 | Publication: Medio Tejo

Em ‘O que fazer?’, o artista Martim Brion apresenta-se numa exposição individual que, segundo as palavras do curador João Silvério, ‘confronta-nos com uma série de trabalhos escultóricos que transitam do formato tridimensional para a fotografia, para o texto e, em termos de composição, para uma estratégia formal estribada numa geometria abstrata que estabelece padrões equilibrados entre a escala e a proporção de uma paleta cromática de grande rigor e economia’.

Summary: This press coverage previews Martim Brion’s solo presentation O que fazer?, curated by João Silvério, which opened alongside Luís Paulo Costa’s Dois Cafés at the Museu Ibérico de Arqueologia e Arte (MIAA) in Abrantes. Presented as part of the ongoing partnership between the Municipality of Abrantes and the Figueiredo Ribeiro Collection, the piece highlights Brion’s fluid navigation between three-dimensional sculpture, photographic media, and conceptual text. Curator João Silvério points to Brion’s rigorous formal strategy, defined by balanced scale, spatial proportion, and a highly disciplined chromatic palette. The article also captures commentary from Mayor Manuel Jorge Valamatos on the strategic role of the Figueiredo Ribeiro Collection in positioning Abrantes as a major regional and national cultural destination through its exhibition program running through February 12, 2023.

Title: (0/1) o zero e o um

Author: Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência (MUHNAC) | Date: 2022 | Publication: museus.ulisboa.pt

A exposição O ZERO E O UM (0/1), reflete sobre a imaginação e os conceitos de oposição, a arbitrariedade da interpretação e sobre a qual, a imaginação se foca através da representação da realidade ou dos objetos e não da coisa em si.

Summary: This institutional feature details the group exhibition (0/1) o zero e o um, curated by Sofia Marçal at the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC) in Lisbon, running from November 4, 2022, through January 8, 2023. Staged across the museum’s Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Atrium, Amphitheater, and Cloister, the exhibition brings together works by Martim Brion alongside Arturo Comas, João Motta Guedes, Jon Gorospe, Susana Rocha, and Teresa Murta to bridge contemporary art practice with scientific inquiry. Drawing thematic inspiration from author Gonçalo M. Tavares’ Atlas do corpo e da imaginação, the curatorial framework explores binary oppositions, human cognition, and the supremacy of imagination over physical matter. Situated within this interdisciplinary context, the exhibition positions Brion’s rigorous practice within a broader discourse on how artistic systems construct provisional truths and navigate the arbitrary nature of representation.

Title: Abrantes inaugura sábado duas exposições no Museu de Arqueologia e Arte

Author: Not Specified | Date: 2022 | Publication: O Mirante (omirante.pt)

[…] confronta-nos com uma série de trabalhos escultóricos que transitam do formato tridimensional para a fotografia, para o texto e, em termos de composição, para uma estratégia formal estribada numa geometria abstracta, que estabelece padrões equilibrados entre a escala e a proporção de uma paleta cromática de grande rigor e economia.

Summary: This press piece announces the September 17, 2022, opening of two concurrent exhibitions hosted at the Museu Ibérico de Arqueologia e Arte (MIAA) in Abrantes, organized in partnership with the Figueiredo Ribeiro Collection and the Municipality of Abrantes. The article highlights Martim Brion’s solo sculptural exhibition, O que fazer?, curated by João Silvério, alongside Luís Paulo Costa’s painting-focused presentation Dois Cafés. Curator João Silvério emphasizes Brion’s fluid conceptual transition across three-dimensional structures, photography, and text, anchored by a composition based on geometric abstraction, spatial proportion, and a disciplined chromatic palette. The article also notes Mayor Manuel Jorge Valamatos’ endorsement of the Figueiredo Ribeiro Collection as central to the municipal cultural development strategy and confirms the exhibition runs through February 12, 2023.

Title: Freisinger Schafhof: Nachtschwärmern auf der Spur

Author: Peter Becker | Date: 2022 | Publication: Süddeutsche Zeitung (sueddeutsche.de)

Publication: Süddeutsche Zeitung (sueddeutsche.de)

Brion untersucht dagegen das ästhetische Potenzial von Farbe und Form in seinen fotografischen Arbeiten. ‘Roxy P’ ist eine Serie mit Aufnahmen von Flüssigkeiten. Diese werden mit einer starken Lichtquelle von der Seite her angestrahlt. Dabei entstehen wolkenähnliche Figuren, die ständig in Bewegung bleiben.

Summary: This cultural feature previews the exhibition Nachtsicht (Night Vision) hosted at the Schafhof – Europäisches Künstlerhaus in Freising, organized under the annual theme “Licht und Schatten” (Light and Shadow) by the District of Upper Bavaria. Running from April 30 through June 26, 2022, the show juxtaposes painting, photography, and video installations to examine how distinct visual media render and manipulate light. The article highlights Munich-based artist Martin [Martim] Brion alongside painter Dirk Pleyer, photographer Jürgen Bürgin, and video artist Pavel Mrkus. Brion’s contribution centers on his photographic series Roxy P, where side-lit liquids create fluid, cloud-like abstract formations to probe the aesthetic potential of color and form.

Title: Nachtsicht

Author: Not specified | Date: 2022 | Publication: Freising Veranstaltungskalender

Seiner malerischen Werkreihe ‘Nachtsichtbilder’ werden zwei fotografische Positionen entgegengesetzt: zum einen die abstrakt wirkenden Bilder des in München lebenden portugiesischen Künstlers Martim Brion, zum anderen die nächtlichen Stadtaufnahmen des Berliner Fotografen Jürgen Bürgin.

Summary: The article details the group exhibition Nachtsicht (Night Vision) hosted at Schafhof – European Art Forum Upper Bavaria in Freising, centered on the thematic investigation of light, shadow, and visual perception. Framed around the fundamental transition between day and night, the exhibition pairs Dirk Pleyer’s painterly series with two contrasting photographic methodologies: the abstract, form-focused works of Munich-based Portuguese artist Martim Brion and the nocturnal cityscapes of Berlin photographer Jürgen Bürgin. Through this cross-medium dialogue, the show critically examines how artificial illumination reinterprets space and alters human perception within darkness.

Title: The forms of thought – Martim Brion at Sá da Costa

Author: José Sousa Machado | Date: 2021 | Publication: Umbigo Magazine

The enameled brightness of the painted sculptures and the photographs on display, in addition to their perfect finishing, together with their vibrant polychrome, suggest an intrinsic immateriality of the works, and establish in space a parallel reality that provokes a sensation of inaccessibility; a vibrant territory that is an exclusive prerogative of artistic creation, where the senses, perception and thought derived from them are compacted into a single cognitive faculty…

Summary: In this review of Martim Brion’s exhibition Intersection Points at Galeria Sá da Costa in Lisbon, José Sousa Machado examines how Brion systematically dissolves the boundaries separating painting, sculpture, and photography. Drawing conceptual connections to Donald Judd’s Minimalist theory of Specific Objects as well as philosophical inquiries from Deleuze, Plotinus, and Anaximander, Machado frames Brion’s vibrant polychrome MDF sculptures and high-finish photographic series as transcendental investigations into pure form. The exhibition functions as a cohesive, immersive installation anchored by four floor works from the Column series, which subvert conventional spatial pedestals to invite performative viewing, while the Repetitions photographic series isolates everyday details into essential geometric configurations that navigate the boundary between material reality and ideal thought.

Title: Künstler*innengespräch: Incremental Abstractions

Author: Not specified | Date: 2020 | Publication: Artconnect (artconnect.com)

Die Ausstellung „Incremental Abstractions“ präsentiert zeitgenössische ungegenständliche Sicht- und Arbeitsweisen in Bildhauerei, Malerei, Grafik und Fotografie. Anhand von sechs exemplarischen Positionen aus Berlin und Hamburg werden Möglichkeiten künstlerischer Verortung im Spannungsfeld der ungegenständlichen Kunst aufgezeigt.

Summary: This press event announcement details an artist talk featuring art historian and curator Dr. Jens-Ole Rey in conjunction with the group exhibition Incremental Abstractions at Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten in Berlin. Featuring six contemporary artistic positions based in Berlin and Hamburg—including Jaakov Blumas, Pedro Boese, Katrin Bremermann, Martim Brion, Ilona Kálnoky, and Michaela Zimmer—the exhibition critically surveys non-representational practices across sculpture, painting, printmaking, and photography. The program examines the evolution of abstract visual languages through historical continuity, the primacy of material, color, and form, the dialectic of gestural presence, and formal strategies of reduction, repetition, and seriality.

Title: Martim Brion expõe no MUDAS

Author: Not specified | Date: 2020 | Publication: Diário de Notícias

ublication: Diário de Notícias

É a exposição que marca não apenas a ‘rentrée’ da temporada artística do MUDAS para 2020, mas também a reabertura da Galeria do MUDAS.Museu, após um curto encerramento para obras de requalificação. Trata-se da mostra ‘Repetições – Mudanças incrementais’, de Martim Brion Sanches…

Summary: This article announces the solo exhibition Repetições – Mudanças incrementais (Repetitions – Incremental Changes) by artist Martim Brion at MUDAS.Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Madeira, opening on February 21, 2020. The museum-curated presentation brings together sculpture and photography to launch the institution’s 2020 artistic season while marking the official reopening of its gallery space following refurbishment. Alongside detailing the exhibition, the article provides an overview of Brion’s international background, noting his academic foundation in International Relations and Business Management, specialized studies at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, and professional history spanning Gagosian, Christie’s, Roland Berger, and Sutton PR, as well as his inclusion in the concurrent group exhibition Incremental Abstractions in Berlin.

Title: Eduardo Jesus elogia “brilhante percurso artístico” de Martim Brion Sanches

Author: Sandra Ascensão Silva | Date:2020 | Publication: Diário de Notícias (dnoticias.pt)

Date:2020

Publication: Diário de Notícias (dnoticias.pt)

O artista acabou por receber palavras de elogio de Eduardo Jesus, não só pelo seu “brilhante percurso artístico”, presente nesta exposição através das suas inspirações, mas também pela doação da escultura que vem “engrandecer todo o património aqui depositado com muita confiança”, frisou o governante.

Summary: In this report for Diário de Notícias, Sandra Ascensão Silva covers the formal inauguration of Martim Brion Sanches’ solo exhibition, REPETIÇÕES – Mudanças incrementais, at MUDAS.Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Madeira in Calheta. Regional Secretary of Tourism and Culture Eduardo Jesus publicly commended Brion’s distinguished artistic trajectory and formally acknowledged the artist’s gift of a centerpiece sculpture to the museum’s permanent collection. Featuring photography and sculpture, the exhibition inaugurates MUDAS’s 2020 artistic season while reopening its newly refurbished gallery facilities designed to accommodate ambitious contemporary museum programming.

Title: Lagos celebra o Dia do Município

Author: Not specified | Date: 2020 | Publication: Correio de Lagos

As actividades culturais também estarão bem presentes, com a inauguração de duas exposições no Centro Cultural. Inspirado por Antoni Gaudí e Andy Warhol, Ivan Ulmann mostra uma nova visão da realidade em “Mundos Fragmentados”. Já o trio de artistas Tom Saunders, Silke Weißbach e Martim Brion apresentam a exposição “Matérias Incertas”, projeto multidisciplinar nas áreas da escultura, pintura, instalação, vídeo e fotografia.

Summary: This article outlines the municipal holiday celebrations in Lagos, held in honor of its patron saint, São Gonçalo de Lagos, featuring institutional ceremonies, protocol events, and streamed digital broadcasts in line with current public health guidelines. Alongside official addresses by municipal leaders, the signing of cooperation protocols with local security and health entities, and a commemorative mass at the Church of Santa Maria, the program highlights vibrant cultural offerings at the Lagos Cultural Center. Running from October 27 through December 30, these cultural highlights include Ivan Ulmann’s exhibition Mundos Fragmentados and the multidisciplinary project Matérias Incertas, presented by the artist trio Tom Saunders, Silke Weißbach, and Martim Brion across sculpture, painting, installation, video, and photography.

Title: Galeria Neupergama de Torres Novas celebra 40 anos com exposição de Pedro Cabrita Reis

Author: Porto Canal com Lusa | Date: 2020 | Publication: Porto Canal (portocanal.sapo.pt)

Já depois de assumir a liderança da galeria, em meados de 2018, Célia Gonçalves reuniu, também em parceria com o município de Torres Novas, trabalhos das três gerações Areal, na Praça do Peixe, com obras de António Areal (pai), emprestadas pela Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, e também de Sofia Areal (filha) e de Martim Brion (neto).

Summary: This article reports on the 40th anniversary of Galeria Neupergama in Torres Novas, marked by a major dual-venue exhibition of artist Pedro Cabrita Reis across the gallery and the Museu Municipal Carlos Reis. Highlighting the gallery’s long-standing legacy of presenting pivotal figures in Portuguese contemporary art since the 1960s, director Célia Gonçalves underscores Neupergama’s history of high-caliber museum-level programming in the region. Within this institutional trajectory, the article highlights a key landmark curated by Gonçalves in 2018 in partnership with the Municipality of Torres Novas: a milestone three-generation exhibition showcasing the artistic lineage of the Areal family, featuring historic works by grandfather António Areal (on loan from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation), alongside works by mother Sofia Areal and grandson Martim Brion.

Title: Incremental abstractions – Ausstellung Berlin

Author: Not specified | Date: 2020 | Publication: artinfo24.com

Martim Brions Skulpturen aus industriell lackierten geometrischen Formen und seine digital modellierten Fotografien der Oberflächen von Alltagsgegenständen erkunden anhand von spezifischen optischen, stofflichen und medialen Qualitäten Synergieeffekte zwischen Skulptur und Fotografie.

Summary: In this coverage of the group exhibition incremental abstractions at Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten in Berlin, the publication surveys non-representational practices in contemporary sculpture, painting, graphics, and photography. Focusing on Martim Brion’s contribution within the six-artist exhibition, the text highlights his ongoing investigation into the synergistic possibilities bridging sculpture and photography. By combining sculptures formed from industrially lacquered geometric shapes with digitally modeled photographic studies of everyday object surfaces, Brion critically engages with optical, tactile, and medium-specific qualities to interrogate the boundaries of spatial and visual abstraction.

Title: Galeria do Mudas. Museu reabriu com novas ofertas

Author: Not specified | Date: 2020 | Publication: Madeira In & Out (madeirainandout.com)

Desde o passado dia 21 de fevereiro que a Galeria do MUDAS.Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Madeira oferece a exposição REPETIÇÕES – Mudanças incrementais, da autoria de Martim Brion Sanches.

Summary: This press piece highlights the official reopening of the main gallery space at MUDAS.Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Madeira, inaugurated with Martim Brion’s solo exhibition REPETIÇÕES – Mudanças incrementais. Curated directly by the museum and on view through May 10, the exhibition brings together Brion’s photographic and sculptural works to launch the institution’s 2020 artistic season. The article emphasizes that the facility’s extensive architectural upgrades expanded its capacity for large-scale, dynamic contemporary art presentations, positioning Brion’s multidisciplinary work as the centerpiece of the museum’s newly upgraded institutional programming.

Title: Areal, nome de arte: Um património de formas

Author: Maria Leonor Nunes | Date: 2019 | Publication: Jornal de Letras, Artes e Ideias (JL)

Esta exposição fez-me olhar para o meu trabalho, perceber qual o meu património e investigar sobre o avô que não conheci, António Areal, que foi um grande artista” — Martim Brion

Summary: This feature article explores the three-generation exhibition Areal3 at Mercado do Peixe in Torres Novas, uniting the works of painter António Areal, painter Sofia Areal, and artist Martim Brion. Focusing on Martim Brion (b. 1986), the piece details his upbringing in an artistic household as the son of Sofia Areal and sculptor/professor Rui Sanches. Despite growing up in artist studios, Brion initially resisted a career in fine art, studying political science and management and working across business roles, Sotheby’s, and Christie’s before committing fully to his own art practice.

Now based in Berlin, Brion is self-taught like his mother and grandfather—supplemented by coursework at the Royal College of Art—and works across photography and sculpture, often using immediate photographic studies as a foundation for mature sculptural forms. For Areal3, Brion exhibited site-specific sculptures and photographs informed by literary references to Marcel Proust, while also conducting archival research into the legacy of his grandfather, António Areal.

Title: 26 de janeiro | Areal³ Uma Exposição de António, Sofia e Martim Areal

Author: Not specified | Date: 2019 | Publication: Entroncamento (entroncamentoonline.pt)

Com uma produção mais recente e emergente, Martim Brion (Lisboa, 1986) surge já neste século, em tempos de intervenções instalativas e pós-conceptuais, observável na sua pluralidade de materiais e suportes, trabalhando entre a fotografia e a escultura. É filho da artista plástica Sofia Areal e vive e trabalha em Berlim.

Summary: This article announces Areal³, a major three-generation exhibition presenting 34 works across Praça do Peixe and Galeria Neupergama in Torres Novas, organized in collaboration with Museu Carlos Reis and supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Focusing on Martim Brion (b. Lisbon, 1986), the text contextualizes his work as an emerging post-conceptual practice characterized by installation strategies and a plurality of media. Working between photography and sculpture from his base in Berlin, the son of painter Sofia Areal contributes both artworks to the multi-site show and an analytical text to the accompanying exhibition catalog.

Title: Pode um coração ser uma forma geométrica? Este que une mãe e filho é vermelho e azul

Author: Teresa Dias Mendes | Date: 2019 | Publication: TSF (tsf.pt)

Date: 2019

Publication: TSF (tsf.pt)

Martim Brion sou a minha própria pessoa, portanto, o meu próprio nome… No meu trabalho é mais uma coisa que quase que pode parecer pintada à máquina… Na escultura uso bastantes elementos geométricos e cores bastante definidas…

Summary: In this interview for TSF’s Uma Questão de ADN series, Martim Brion and his mother, painter Sofia Areal, discuss their creative relationship ahead of the three-generation exhibition Areal³ in Torres Novas. Brion details adopting the professional moniker “Martim Brion” (moving away from his birth initials, MAS) to forge an independent artistic identity distinct from his parents, Sofia Areal and sculptor Rui Sanches. Having initially distanced himself from art by studying political science and management—living in London and Munich before establishing his studio in Berlin—he describes his eventual return to visual art as a natural, circular progression.

Contrasting his mother’s gestural, intuitive painting process, Brion outlines a depurated, highly structured methodology defined by precise geometry and vibrant color contrasts. His work in sculpture and photography relies on pre-planned conceptual design, digital processing, and specialized fabrication rather than direct physical manipulation. This intellectualized distance and interest in formal reduction connect his contemporary practice to the structural, analytical approach of his late grandfather, painter António Areal.

Title: Torres Novas | Três gerações da família Areal expõem na Praça do Peixe

Author: Agência Lusa | Date: 2019 | Publication: Médio Tejo (mediotejo.net)

Atuando em diferentes tempos, estes projetos estão ligados por proximidades que permitem estabelecer elos de relação, continuidade e familiaridade…

Summary: This article covers the launch of Areal³ | Uma Exposição de António, Sofia e Martim Areal, hosted at the Praça do Peixe in Torres Novas from January 26 through March 10, 2019. Promoted by the Carlos Reis Municipal Museum and Galeria Neupergama with support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and private collectors, the exhibition features 34 works spanning drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture across three generations of artists: António Areal (1934–1978), Sofia Areal, and Martim Brion.

Starting February 23, the showcase expands to Galeria Neupergama with complementary pieces of varying formats and dimensions. Related events include the premiere of an exhibition catalog featuring critical texts by Fernando Rosa Dias, Emília Ferreira, Tom Saunders, and Martim Brion, as well as the local debut screening of Jorge Silva Melo’s documentary Sofia Areal: Um Gabinete Anti-Dor.

Title: Areal³ une em Torres Novas a arte de três gerações da família Areal

Author: Not specified | Date: 2019 | Publication: O Mirante (omirante.pt)

Date: 2019

Publication: O Mirante (omirante.pt)

As obras de desenho, pintura, fotografia e escultura, das três gerações que actuam em diferentes tempos, permitem estabelecer elos de relação, continuidade e familiaridade.

Summary: This article reports on Areal³ – Uma exposição de António, Sofia e Martim Areal, opening on January 26 and running through March 10, 2019, at the Praça do Peixe in Torres Novas. Supported by the Carlos Reis Municipal Museum, Galeria Neupergama, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the multi-generational showcase brings together drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture to trace continuity and artistic dialogue across three distinct eras.

The event program expands on February 23 to incorporate Galeria Neupergama, featuring additional works across varied mediums and sizes. The broader schedule includes the publication of an exhibition catalog—with essay contributions from Fernando Rosa Dias, Emília Ferreira, Tom Saunders, and Martim Brion—alongside the local premiere of Jorge Silva Melo’s documentary Sofia Areal: Um Gabinete Anti-Dor. Practical details regarding opening hours and weekly schedules are also provided.

Title: Exposição Kontrapunkt de Martim Brion em Berlim

Author: Not specified | Date: 2018 | Publication: Jornal de Letras, Artes e Ideias (JL)

A exposição Kontrapunkt, de Martim Brion, ‘mostra esculturas e fotografias que, em diálogos, trabalham com contrários: coincidência versus estrutura, pensamento versus manifestação, plano versus objeto’…

Summary: This article reports on Martim Brion’s solo exhibition Kontrapunkt, held at the Camões Cultural Center within the Embassy of Portugal in Berlin through February 6, 2018. Drawing from gallery text by Kristina von Bülow (Novokolorit), the piece outlines how Brion (b. Lisbon, 1986) utilizes sculpture and photography to translate abstract philosophical concepts into visual form through color and geometry. The exhibition creates a dialectical dialogue between two-dimensional photographs—described as intuitive, spontaneous sketches of the “Here and Now”—and three-dimensional sculptures, which act as solid, closed systems defined by clean geometric structures and vibrant surfaces, balancing thesis and antithesis in space.

Title: Ponte de Sôr | Exposição ‘Boese, Brion e Tecedeiro’ inaugura este sábado

Author: Paula Mourato | Date: 2018 | Publication: Médio Tejo (mediotejo.net)

Inaugura este sábado, 17 de março, às 17h30, no Centro de Artes e Cultura de Ponte de Sôr, a exposição coletiva ‘Boese, Brion e Tecedeiro’, dos artistas contemporâneos Pedro Boese, Martin Brion e André Tecedeiro, numa parceria entre o Município de Ponte de Sor e a Fundação das Casas de Fronteira e Alorna, onde são mostrados três pensamentos distintos sobre ordem, forma e volume.

Summary: This article announces the opening of the group exhibition Boese, Brion e Tecedeiro on March 17, 2018, at the Centro de Artes e Cultura de Ponte de Sôr, running through May 19, 2018. Presented as a collaboration between the Municipality of Ponte de Sor and the Fundação das Casas de Fronteira e Alorna, the showcase features works by contemporary artists Pedro Boese, Martim Brion, and André Tecedeiro. The exhibition explores three distinct artistic perspectives focused on concepts of order, form, and volume.

Title: Martim Brion | Escultura a cores

Author: Maria Leonor Nunes | Date: 2017 | Publication: Jornal de Letras (jornaldeletras.pt)

Este local expositivo levou-me a pensar mais na arquitetura e como a escultura de grande (neste caso de maior) dimensão se inclui já em parte nesse campo. E quando se dimensiona em grande escala, tem que haver já um sentido mais prático, em termos estruturais, de relação com o público e com o espaço.

Summary: This article highlights Martim Brion’s solo exhibition Pontos de Fuga, held in the atrium of the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MNHNC) in Lisbon through May 13, 2017. The centerpiece of the exhibition is Rubicon, a site-specific installation comprising three large-scale, vividly colored parallelepiped blocks designed to directly converse with the soaring volume of the non-traditional exhibition space. Incorporating commentary from critic Kristina von Bülow and MNHNC visual arts head Sofia Marçal, the article contextualizes Brion’s work within post-pictorial abstraction, where chromatic relationships and geometric forms extend traditional painting into three-dimensional space. Born in Lisbon (1986) and based in Germany, Brion—son of artists Rui Sanches and Sofia Areal—reflects on transitioning to fine art from an academic background in International Relations and Political Science, framing Rubicon as an expansive structural study that challenged him to engage architectural scale, spatial constraints, and viewer interaction.

Title: Martim Brion e Admir Jahic & Comenius Röthlisberger

Author: Uncredited | Date: 2016 | Publication: AgendaLX (agendalx.pt)

A linha de partida para ambos, Jahic & Röthlisberger e Brion, é a célebre frase de Luís de Camões: ‘Aqui (…) onde a terra se acaba e o mar começa (…)’.’ Balançando-se entre o fim e o princípio, ou a terra e o mar, AQUI torna-se na perfeita metáfora para a genuína convicção artística, para a mudança e a diferença.

Summary: This event listing details the collaborative exhibition Aqui, held at the Rua Madalena Project (Rua da Madalena 119/121) in Lisbon through November 13, 2016. The exhibition brought together site-responsive works by the Basel-based duo Admir Jahic & Comenius Röthlisberger and Lisbon-born artist Martim Brion, focusing on the materiality and evocative power of Portugal’s coastal landscape. Taking inspiration from Luís de Camões’ iconic line, the showcase examines thresholds—where land meets sea and endings transition into beginnings—as a metaphor for artistic transformation and decision-making. The featured pieces engage with the creative tension of translating abstract ideas into physical art objects amidst shifting materials, horizons, and environments.

Title:Arte hoje

Author: Rocha de Sousa | Date: 2016 | Publication: Jornal de Letras (JL)

A exposição que ocupa a Sala Fernando de Azevedo, apresenta obras dos artistas premiados em 2014, concluindo assim um relativo balanço de artes e artistas no país, naturalmente baseado nos muitos concorrentes, incorporando Pintura, Desenho, Fotografia, Instalação, Gravura, Video, Escultura.

Summary: This art review by Rocha de Sousa examines the Arte Hoje exhibition held in the Sala Fernando de Azevedo at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes (SNBA) in Lisbon. The showcase features works by eight artists distinguished during the institution’s 2014 competition, serving as a broad aesthetic survey spanning painting, drawing, photography, lithography, video, and installation.

The review highlights participating artists Ana Lima-Netto, Rui Melo, Martim Brion, Raquel Melgue, Inês Garcia, Rogério Paulo Silva, Filipa Sáraga, and Lourenço de Castro, noting Martim Brion’s presence through photographic work alongside Raquel Melgue. Beyond reviewing the works, Rocha de Sousa reflects on the SNBA’s historical legacy, comparing its historic salons to contemporary institutional challenges and the shifting dynamics between artist-run spaces and commercial galleries.