Diogo Pinto

Born in Lisbon, 1993. Lives and works in Basel.

In recent years, Diogo Pinto, as an artist and exhibition maker, has focused on the work of a number of artists who are unknown outside of their own milieu, however, who are locally committed. He does not do this primarily out of a biographical interest in a specific person and their fate, but out of the expectation that, through an in-depth examination of their work, he can better understand the conditions under which it was created and the history of its impact and, above all, the social and cultural environment in which a work was created, and can be conveyed in the medium of a painting or an exhibition. In his view, cultural history manifests itself in the diversity of artistic expression and should not be confused with art history of masterpieces, which follows other principles. He regards artworks as historical testimonies. Pinto is a meticulously researching artist who is enthusiastic about micro-historical phenomena and the associated forms of artistic expression, which he takes up in his own painting and develops in exhibitions.”

Roman Kurzmeyer for Cherrypickers, der TANK, Basel, 2024