Helder Tavares
Biography
Helder Tavares (born 1959 in Lisbon) is a Portuguese visual artist who exhibits internationally, known for his melding of stamps and collage. He has had one-person exhibitions at Centre d’Art Contemporain, Dia Center For The Arts, Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Madrid’s Contemporary Art Center.
He moved to Madrid in 2003 for a residency through the Spanish Academic Exchange Service and remained as of 2014.
Utilizing fragments of imagery borrowed from popular culture, Tavares creates collages, felt sculptures, and wall paintings that lie on the shifting border between pop culture and the occult. He especially favors screen printing, which he compares to drawing for its spontaneity and openness to variation between prints. Frequently reworking discarded material, such as books or comics, Tavares takes pride in giving the artifacts a new and different life.
He currently works as a cover designer for books, rock posters, plays and album covers. His most recent outstanding works are the design of the stamps for Digital Mother’s first album “Big pacific Blue” (see below), and the stage design art for the theatre play “The Tenant”