Our Artists

Step into the world of creative genius at São Rafael Galleries, where the boundaries between reality and imagination blur. Our Artist Profiles section is dedicated to showcasing the masterworks of some of the most talented and innovative artists from around the globe.
  • Abstract/Landscape Painting
    Abílio Marcos was born in Sintra, but lived in France from 4 to 14 years old and in the United States of America from 2001 to 2003. He started using painting as a form of expression in the early 1990s and is represented in several museums, city halls, parish councils and private collections in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium and the USA. His work has been mentioned in the “Guia D ́Arte” and in the “Plastic Arts Yearbook of Estar Editora”, since 1995, in the book “50 Years of Painting and Sculpture in Portugal” by Universitária Editora and in the book “Contemporary Portuguese Painting, 100 Painters” from Chancela Real.
  • Sustainable Sculpture
    António Azenha was born in Angola, in 1964, but grew up between Figueira da Foz and Coimbra. With a degree in Painting and a Master’s Degree in Aesthetic Communication, he began exhibiting in the 1980s, participating in various festivals and exhibitions. In 2009/10, created the work entitled “O meu peão, deles e nosso”, beginning a work marked by children’s imagination and collective generational iconography, which culminated in the
    exhibition “Toys Replay”. The artist’s work was awarded with the Teixeira Lopes Prize in Portugal, as well as honorable mentions at the III Vila Real Art Biennial and at the Mondego Painting Competition.
  • Figurative Painting
    Arobieke Tomiwa is a self-taught nigerian artist. With a career on the rise, his presence became noticeable in contemporary African art when he used acrylic on canvas to create stunning artworks that reflect the richness of black skin and culture. His works stand out for being a faithful portrait of the Ibadan environment and how human relates to it, with emphasis on the vibrant colors and the contrast of the landscape.
  • Digital Painting
    Arista2099 is an expressionist artist born in Vigo, Spain. His work is influenced by cubism, literature, comics and street art. Interest in mythology, religions, symbolism, classic and contemporary art and new myths, Arista retrates the evolution of the human species and the future to which we are headed, transfer them to the canvas or to the world of crypto art. Social realism, the power of the will where everything is lost and myths are recurring elements in his work , in which undoubtedly the in domitable characters are his favorites. Mainly Arista ’ s work is currently dedicated to combining digital production and the nfts market with the elaboration of work in a traditional way.
  • Doodle Art/ Mixed Media Painting
    Ashima Kumar is an awarded visual artist,
    of Indian origin, resident in the United
    Kingdom. After completing her BFA degree
    in applied arts, Ashima started to work at
    the cutting edge of Graphic Design and Fine Art. Her style is a unique fusion of doodle art, traditional art, and modern technology.
  • Analog Collage and Oil Sticks
    Catarina Diaz was born in Benguela, in 1969. At the age of 5, she moved to Portugal and she’s currently living in London, but brought with her the vibrant chromaticism of the African sunset, the flamingos, the bougainvillea that marked her imagination
    and her creations. The cosmopolitan life of London also became a source of daily inspiration for her works. Her genius trought analog collage and oil sticks turned her into an up-and-coming internacional artist. She participates in several solo and group exhibitions in Madrid, Milan, London, Paris, San Francisco, Canary Islands, Abu Dhabi, Brussels, Portugal, New York and Forteventura. The artist was awarded the Collector’s Vision International Art Award for outstanding achievements and potential and the Certificate for Artistic Merit by the Luxembourg Art Prize, in 2021.
  • Figurative Painting and Photography
    Carlos Teixeira was born in Angola and live in Braga. Owner of a keen artistic sensibility, Carlos assumes himself predominantly as a figurative artist, both in painting and photography. In his curriculum there are numerous exhibitions and awards, he has already exhibited in Spain, France, Brazil, and Paris.
  • Surrealist Drawing and Sculpture
    Fabián Caro Román was born in Santiago of Chile. His work is characterized by the theme of the dream and the unconscious, in which the human body appears in force, through metaphysical and magical faces and body expressions, with a focus on surrealist modeling of the female body. He has already exhibited in Chile, Spain, Europe, Canada, USA and Mexico.
  • Figurative Painting
    Fasalejo Tobiloba is a Nigerian visual artist
    who was born in Ondo state. As a disciplined artist, he creates speculative works that highlight the black identity. Over the years, he has explored different deeper into the use of textured canvas and acrylics for painting, collage, and mixed media. His thematic disposition spans from concepts captured from the immediate environment which are sociocultural, psychological, and religious in nature.
  • Money Sculpture and Collage
    Gabriela González Leal is a mexican artist, born in 1981. Multidisciplinary with an interest in lithography, she is recognized for her work in the Money Art field. Her work explores different media and materials such as soccer balls, coins, bullets, clothing, Japanese paper or demonetized banknotes into sculpture. She’s part of international projects Banknote Art Concept in Australia and Money For Nothing in France. González work has been exhibited both in Mexico and in Serbia, Argentina, Germany, USA, Uruguay, Spain, Cuba and England. And it is part of collections prominent such as the Bank of Mexico; Zuckerman Museum in Florida and El Peñol Historical Museum in Colombia.
  • Abstract Painting and Mixed Media
    Gulnar Sacoor was born in Mozambique and lives in Portugal since 1974. Her work was marked by a strong multicultural background that encompasses Western, African and Indian cultures. Interpreted as a fusion between Mondrian and Rothko, her work highlights the myriad of colors and the realistic imagery of minimalist shapes and infinite landscapes, between mystery and spirituality. The artist is also represented in Portugal, Mozambique, USA, France, Canada, United Kingdom and S. Tomé and Principe.
  • Impressionist Painting
    Hossam Dirar is an Egyptian multidisciplinary artist. Following the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, Dirar produced his first paintings and after that began traveling around Europe gathering inspiration from various galleries and museums. His cultural uncertainty pushed him to delve into the world of Ancient Egyptian history in search for a cultural identity he can relate to and call his own. In this search, he discovered his interest in women’s rights and the beauty in the contrast of cultures in terms of beliefs, liberty and open-mindedness. As he developed his style, he began creating impressionist and abstract expressionist artworks. Today, his paintings can be seen as a graceful combination of both, impressionism and abstract expressionism.
  • Digital Art and Photography
    Jean-David Niangoran aka BLVCKVRTST is an african photographer and self-taught visual/digital artist from Ivory Coast. The artist has always sought to convey emotions, feelings of all kinds (joy, love, fear, anger etc) to the people around him, and, in 2019, he made the decision to dedicate himself to photography professionally. As a photographer he specialized very quickly in digital art, as he evolved in the world of computer science. His creative genius was recognized in the tenth edition of the contemporary art competition of Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire, distinguished for his irreverent digital art with a futuristic universe influenced by spirituality, nature and the society.
  • Watercolor
    João Freire (J. Freire) was born in 1959 in Benguela, Angola. He graduated in Visual and Technological and since 1978 has developed a career in the fine arts with emphasis on his watercolor works, awarded several times. Also, he exhibits regularly, having held individual and collective exhibitions in Gouveia, Manteigas, Vila do Conde, Viana do Castelo, Bragança, Torres Novas, Torre de Moncorvo, Sabrosa, Porto, Vila Real, Vimioso, Figueira da Foz, Salamanca, Lisbon and Peso da Régua.
  • Figurative Painting and Sculpture
    José A. Faraco was born in Huelva, Spain, in 1961. He started as a self-taught artist, painter and sculptor that has held numerous individual and collective
    exhibitions. Currently, his work focuses on the desexualization and naturalization of the nude. His project “The Body… An Inhabited Territory” explores the perspective of gender diversity and the
    main social transformations that occur in the social image of the body in contemporary culture.
  • Conceptual Photography
    Kwame Koda is an african photographer and creative director from the Ashanti Region of Ghana, West Africa. Creative entrepreneur specializing in creating visual content for both local and international brands through visual art and storytelling. Raised in Ghana, his jorney to become a photographer started with his love for art. He discovered his passion for art at a very young age and translated that into drawing and painting. Photography, however, came into the picture when he was in high school. Since then, Kwame has collaborated with over 60 brands.
  • Abstract and Figurative Painting
    Leonor Trindade Sousa was born in Vagos, in 1961. Her work, through oil and acrylic, ranges from figurative to abstract and it’s the result of an enormous stoicism and struggle, where her feminist side is evident in parallel with the more sensitive condition of maternity. She has been awarded several times with the prizes: Premio della Crítica Louvre Art Museum 2021; Palme d’Or, in Cannes; Literarte Best Artist of the Year 2018, in Brazil; International Grand Master of Art Caravaggio Award, in Milan; International Grand Master of Art Botticelli Award, in Florence; Diego Velázquez International Art Award, in Barcelona; Artist of the Year Award 2019, in Mantua, Italy; the Golden Brush Trophy, in Brazil; M.A.D.S Gallery’s Renoir International Art Prize, in Milan; and the Michelangelo International Award, in Rome.
  • Neo-renaissance Painting
    Lena Silva is a contemporary, modern artist, of Portuguese origin, resident in the United Kingdom. A self-taught artist with a BSc Honours in Adult Health Sciences, the art of anatomy and physiology of human bodies. Lover arts and of sophistication,
    simplicity, versatility, influenced by Renaissance art period. A patron of the Florence Academy of Arts. Lena’s artwork in British publications such as Tatler, St John’s Wood Life, BBC Proms, Hampstead Life, Artist Talk and Boomer Art.
  • Minimalist Painting and Mixed Media
    Lilia Luján is a self-taught and awarded multidisciplinary mexican artist, active in the plastic arts since 1995. Specialized in painting, alternative sculpture, minimalist murals, thematic series of social art, graphics and illustration, she directed 25 thematic murals and more than 400 national and international exhibitions. With published Contemporary Art books and editorial presence wolrdwide, Lilia’s editorial and exhibition awarded career stands out in México, Finland, India, Spain, China, Russia, Macedonia, Greece, Italy, USA, Israel and France. Her artistic career includes several awards such as 1st Place Category Award for book graphics in the XII “St. Petersburg Art Week 2021”, in Russia; Social Art Award 2021-New Greening, in Berlin; II International Poster Award MAKMA- Order / Disorder in the MUVIMMuseu Valencià de la II-lustraciò i de la Modernitat (2021), in Spain; Awarded finalist of the Design Edition XX-XX, in México; The 6th Beijing International Art Biennale “Memory and Dream”, National Art Museum of China in 2015 or the 16th International Print Triennale Graphica Creativa 2022, in Finland.
  • Splittografielage / Collage
    Lilly Helja Jonasson was born in Walsrode, Germany, 1983. Graduated in Architecture by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, since 2010 she has been working as an artist and architect with a focus on
    abstractionism geometric. Stands out for the technique “splittografielage” based on the fragmentation of author photography in geometric shapes with the aim of creating a new art object through collage.
  • Pareidolia Painting
    Mazarine Memon was born into an eccentric and fun-loving Parsee family in Bombay (Mumbai), the artist is of Iranian ancestry, Indian by birth, Italian at heart, and Canadian by choice. Based in Canada,
    through her art, Mazarine explores her Indian and Iranian roots, operating out of The Art Brewery, her studio. Mazarine is constantly exploring new and exciting avenues. Her fine art collection, which a
    collector once referred to as ‘mysteries in colour,’ employs pareidolia phenomena to urge viewers to uncover the mystery hidden within the painting. Mazarine has exhibited in India, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Oman, and Bahrain.
  • Abstract Seascape Painting
    Marina Emphietzi was born in Famagusta, Cyprus, and lives in London. A popular international contemporary artist, her passion for art started early. Marina’s work explores issues of time, life and memory and has been described as ‘a reflection and
    celebration of life and the human spirit’. With influences as diverse as Greek mythology and J. M. W.Turner, she creates paintings with a vivid colour palette, many textures, robust energy and a playful style mostly inspired by the sea. Her work is characterized by strong tonal variations and constantly challenges her own talent by trying to experiment with subject matters and techniques for new creative effects.
  • Digital Painting
    Ricardo Gomes was born in Covilhã, Serra da Estrela, in 1985. From a very young age showed a great sensory, creative and visionary capacity. He started his professional career in Marketing, having
    taken another direction when he discovered integrative therapies, psychotherapy, behavior emotional, neuroscience, quantum physics, art therapy, movements systemic and archetypes. Bringing together all these ingredients and his desire to transform lives, Ricardo decided to find in Art a highly benevolent and transformative tool. He uses oil pastel to look for tones, textures and shapes in the digital, where everything comes to life, gain dimension and originality.
  • Collage
    Rodolfo M. Costa is a young plastic artist from Algarve that moved to Berlin, where he captured the Kunstmeile spirit of the Berlin Wall (“the art mile”). Rodolfo captures fragments of a vandalized fantasy dimension and drag them into our reality, exploring themes such as graffiti, information, advertising, multiculturalism and consumerism.
  • Abstract and Figurative Painting
    Sandra Pita Soares, a visual artist from Mozambique now based in Sesimbra, Portugal, creates a distinctive blend of visual expression influenced by the rich cultural heritage of Portugal, particularly
    inspired by Fernando Pessoa and Amália Rodrigues. In her art, Sandra delves into Pessoa’s poetic universe, drawing endless inspiration from his reflections on self and identity, evident in her enigmatic and multifigured paintings. Amália Rodrigues, the iconic “Queen of Fado,” also deeply
    influences Sandra’s work, inspiring emotional and melancholic pieces that reflect the essence of Portuguese fado. Sandra’s talent and dedication have garnered national and international recognition, with her works displayed in prestigious galleries in Dubai, France, Cape Verde, Italy and Portugal.
  • AI Assisted Painting and Digital Collage
    Sílvia Raposo was born in Lisbon, in 1993. Graduated in Anthropology, researcher in Arts and performer, her work is based on an anthropophagist dialogue with the images of the consumer society, placing the contemporary artist as a hunter-gatherer of images. Dialoguing with hybridism through a Frankenstein aesthetic, she creates an art of grafting and miscegenation, of overlaps or intersections between different cultures and artistic aesthetics, looking for new forms of visual and micropolitical sovereignty.
  • Traditional Chinese Painting
    Se Feng’er is a self-taught artist. Starting painting during the Shanghai epidemic, in July 2022, she edited and published the first album titled ‘Sex Commandments’, which brought together more than 300 works painted during confinement. After that, the artist was invited by PAKS Gallery in Austria, to participate in the 2024 Basel International Contemporary Art Biennale in Switzerland. Her work are awarded with “Premio Internazionale Michelangelo” and her career includes several exhibitions in Paris, London, Singapore, Lombardy, Florence, Los Angeles and much more. Inheriting the lines of Chang Yu and the colors of Matisse, Se Feng’er reinvents traditional Chinese painting brush and ink in a wonderfully supernatural, eerie, and bizarre way. Her work mixes traditional Chinese painting with a kind of neoexpressionism and primitivism style.
  • Minimal Painting
    Diego Estebo Ortiz, artistically known as Tebo, was born in Barcelona, 1982. Tebo’s artistic career has gone through different stages over the years. Interested in fields such as illustration, urban art and the specific site, among many other practices, the combination of all these factors has led him to develop his work in very different formats and contexts. Itinerant in nature, he has developed his work in Spain, India, Bolivia, Argentina and Italy. Tebo’s art is characterized by minimalist compositions, with a taste for immediacy and the primitive, in which his two favourite themes merge: signs and landscapes.
  • Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Painting
    Miguel Augusto began his artistic journey in 2001, initially studying law but later pursuing his passion for art in 2018. He developed a unique style blending cubism, surrealism, and abstractionism through self-discovery. His works reflect his imaginative interpretations of everyday experiences with a contemporary aesthetic. He has exhibited in New York and local galleries, and his artistic approach is centered on constantly challenging himself to see things differently. His process is an ongoing exploration of creativity and symbolism, converting brushstrokes into dynamic geometric movements.