Bela Silva

Portugal

Bela Silva was born in Lisbon, Portugal. She lives and works between Brussels and Lisbon.

In Portugal she studied at the School of Fine Arts in Porto and Lisbon and at Ar.Co; and attended Norwich Fine Arts in the United Kingdom and the Art Institute of Chicago in the United States. The artist exhibited her works at the Ann Nathan Gallery, the Rhona Hoffman Gallery, the Lisbon Tile Museum, the Anastácio Gonçalves Museum, the Ajuda National Palace, the Ricardo Espírito Santo Foundation, the Oriente Museum, the National Museum of Art Ancient in Lisbon and in the Museum des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. She participated in exhibitions in China, Japan, Brazil, Spain and France and held several ceramic workshops in Japan and Morocco. She attended artist residencies in Kohler, Wisconsin, U.S.A., and Fábrica Bordalo Pinheiro in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.

Bela Silva has made several works of public art, in which she integrates her work into the architectural element. Examples of that are the tile panels for the Alvalade metro station, in Lisbon; the panels for the gardens of the Sakai Cultural Center in Japan and panels for the João de Deus school in the Azores. She has also produced numerous works specially designed for private collectors in Europe and the United States.

Bela Silva has collaborated over the years in a variety of projects and partnerships with important international brands such as Hermès, Serax, Viúva Lamego, Bordalo Pinheiro, Vista Alegre and Monoprix. In November 2021 she presented in Paris a hand-painted porcelain collection with the Florentine brand Ginori 1735.

Bela Silva's travels are an inexhaustible source of inspiration that allow her to include local history, culture and nature in her creative approach. The artist values ​​the connection between communities and identities, incorporating traditional elements in her works that she reinterprets in a contemporary manner.

Bela Silva is represented by galleries in Paris, Lisbon, Brussels, Toulouse and Madrid.

@belasilvaartist