10 Art Galleries to visit in the city of Porto
Porto is a city known for its rich cultural heritage and vibrant art scene. With a variety of art galleries spread across the city, art lovers have plenty of options to explore. In this article, we will present 10 unmissable art galleries in Porto, which offer a fascinating insight into the local art scene.
1. Porto Municipal Gallery
The Porto Municipal Gallery presents a regular program of exhibitions and events dedicated to contemporary art, also developing projects in the fields of design and architecture. With the mission of presenting exhibitions that promote reflection on contemporary artistic and discursive trends, the Porto Municipal Gallery promotes debate, research and dissemination of ideas around the arts.
Since restarting its activity in 2014, Galeria Municipal do Porto has collaborated with national and international partners in programming and curating exhibitions, performances and debates, stimulating long-term engagement through its educational and editorial project. Integrates the Department of Contemporary Art at Ágora - Cultura e Desporto do Porto, EM
The Porto Municipal Gallery is a space with free entry.
2. Galeria Nuno Centeno
Galeria Nuno Centeno began in 2007 and, over the years, has gained a reputation for focusing on emerging artists, both national and foreign. In 2016, with less than 10 years of career, Nuno Centeno was included by Artnet in the list of the "10 most respected art gallerists in Europe".
He participates annually in around 10 international art fairs, including Frieze London and Frieze New York, Miami Art Basel, ARCO Madrid, Zona Maco México and CONDO São Paulo.
In 2018, the gallery began to occupy the space of the former Bricklayers' Cooperative workshops, where it maintained the industrial aspect that contrasts with the temporary exhibitions, which remain for around 2 months. In addition to the beauty of the exhibition space, the opportunity to come into contact with the most contemporary art in the world makes this visit a must.
3. Pedro Oliveira Gallery
Founded in 1980 in Porto, under the name Galeria Roma e Pavia. In 1990 it changed its address to its current location in the historic center of the city, and its name to Galeria Pedro Oliveira. Its activity focuses on a marked contemporary conceptual trend, disseminating the work of a restricted group of Portuguese and foreign artists. In December 1998, the gallery opened an alternative space on Rua Miguel Bombarda, Porto, called Sala Poste-Ite, intended for special projects, which ended its activity in July 2009, after 63 exhibitions.
4. Presence Gallery
Established in Porto in 1995, Galeria Presença was one of the pioneers to join what would come to be known as Bloco das Artes do Porto. Since its foundation, the gallery has maintained a constant dialogue with Portuguese and international artists, working together with curators, creating solo exhibitions, collective exhibitions and specific projects for its space in Porto.
The gallery is committed to a permanent exchange of ideas with institutions, curators, critics, collectors and everyone involved in the art world, in order to achieve a wider dissemination of its artists. We constantly seek artists' continued practice, regularly introducing new works into the art world.
In 2022, the gallery changed directors, deepening its long-term commitment to exhibiting its represented artists and searching for new talent to be presented to an international audience. Galeria Presença brings together artists from different backgrounds and stages in their careers, and is proud to be open to everyone who wants to deepen their understanding of contemporary art.
5. Oh! Gallery
The gallery Oh! located in the lively Miguel Bombarda block, in Porto, is a project focused on illustration, drawing, books, zines and authorial pieces. Since 2009, it has showcased the best examples of illustration from around the world. Ema Ribeiro is the proud gallerist of this gallery and works with some collaborators, most of whom are young and promising illustrators. Since June 2020, it has a new format, Ó! Cerâmica, a new gallery dedicated to ceramics, with workshops and a studio.
6. Fernando Santos Gallery
Galeria Fernando Santos was created in 1993, in Porto, and was the first to establish itself on Rua Miguel Bombarda, known as the city's cultural artery. Its main objectives are to publicize contemporary projects and artists, making them known to curators, institutions and the public.
The gallery guides its programming towards promoting the works created by the artists it represents, as well as their career, presenting them in its own spaces or promoting their itinerancy in museums and other prestigious institutions in Portugal and abroad, as well like art fairs. The continued effort to earn the trust of collectors and artists has resulted in the multiplication of exhibition spaces, as well as the significant expansion, both nationally and internationally, of the range of artists it represents.
7. Kubikgallery
Kubikgallery, located in a privileged area of the city of Porto, emerged in 2010 as a space for artistic dissemination, with the main purpose of representing Portuguese and foreign artists, both in Portugal and abroad, through successive participation in international fairs. In this way, it seeks to promote cultural exchange, enriching the exhibition of art and the public's knowledge of it.
At the same time, as a cultural and artistic entity, the gallery strives to encourage the dissemination and growth of contemporary production and creation, promoting its artists and allying with them in their professional and creative development, striving for professionalism and quality.
Through its unique exhibition space, different forms of curation, practices and concepts are made possible, thus opening up the field of aesthetic experience for both creators and spectators.
Kubikgallery is innovative, bold, ambitious and, above all, active and present, moving to the rhythm that beats the most contemporary art.
8. Lehmann + Silva Gallery
Opened in November 2017, the Lehmann + Silva gallery is dedicated to promoting contemporary Portuguese artists on the international artistic scene, as well as representing and exhibiting international artists in Portugal and abroad. Working with a wide range of artists, from emerging to more established, the gallery stands out for the deep connections it builds with artists and the community.
Located in the traditional Porto area of Bonfim, just 200 m away from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, Lehmann + Silva is surrounded by ateliers and fine arts students, and is therefore in a prolific artistic environment.
The gallery space is divided into two floors: the main exhibition area and the project space. Portuguese and international curators will be periodically invited to develop research projects and curatorial projects for the exhibition space. The project space aims to foster artistic exchange, experimentation, dialogue, and bring them to the forefront. Young artists and curators will be given the opportunity and tools necessary to operate in a professional gallery context. The aim of this initiative is to encourage the creation of a platform for reflection and theoretical debate, in the gallery space.
9. Blue Square Gallery
Galeria Quadrado Azul represents Portuguese and foreign artists, renowned names in the current artistic scene, and also young artists. It was created in 1986, in Porto, and was one of the first commercial exhibition spaces in the city, arising from the interest in modern and contemporary art of Manuel Ulisses, an art collector since the sixties. Its name originates from the futuristic work K4 O Quadrado Azul, published in 1917 by Almada Negreiros together with Amadeo de Souza Cardoso.
Representing mainly new artists coming out of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Porto, the gallery held a vast number of defining exhibitions in the national context, during the first decade of activity. This was the case with the exhibition dedicated to the Spanish artist Antoni Tàpies, in September 1987, the first time that this artist's work was shown in a commercial gallery in the country. A year later, the exhibition The Ten Recipes for Immortality took place, by Salvador Dali.
Álvaro Lapa, Albert Gonzalo, Alberto Carneiro, Ana León, Angelo de Sousa, Anton Lamazares, Antoni Clavé, Bruno Pacheco, Carlos Velilla, Carlos Vidal,Corneille, Eduardo Arroyo, Eva Lootz, Fernando Lanhas, Fernando Távora, Ignasis Rosés, Jorge Queiroz, Leonel Moura, Lindström, Marta Seixas, Miguel Palma, MP and MP Rosado, Nadir Afonso, Picasso, Robert Schad, Rui Patacho, Susana Solano, Viladecans, João Queiroz and Artur Barrio were some of the protagonists in the gallery’s history.
In 2006, Quadrado Azul opened another space in Lisbon, expanding the possibilities for exhibiting artists' work and reaching a greater diversity of audiences. Now, it is time to pay attention to new trends and the intersection between different disciplines.
10. São Mamede Gallery
Founded in Lisbon at the end of the 60s, it was only in 2005 that Galeria São Mamede opened in the city of Porto, initially on R D. Manuel II, in front of Palácio de Cristal, moving from January 2013 to Rua Miguel Bombarda where it was located. it houses the vast majority of the city's art galleries and is close to the Soares dos Reis Museum.