Manuel Caeiro

Manuel Caeiro's work is based on modernist assumptions ofthe construction of space. Each canvas offers a window to a place that - while it is not an imaginary world - is developed within the artist's mind. These spaces expand via a progression of geometric structures based on cubes differentiated via their tonal contrasts. The games of colour and lighting explored therein are fundamental for consolidation of the work.
In all Caeiro's work the spectator is invited to take part in perception games, established via compositional tables that enable a rigorous form of structural organisation. From the starting point of pre-existing architecture - in this specific case that of swimming pools - Caeiro pursues a characteristic movement of a post-modernist aesthetic wherein it is necessary to deconstruct and then reconstruct the space in order to build the work.
Architecture is omnipresent in building the artist's work, in contrast to the disappearance of the human figure from the canvas (although imperceptible, the human figure exists therein and has a structuring role). This absence provokes a loss of notions of scale, but underlines the utopian flavour of these constructions. These aspects are further emphasised by a rare and disturbing use of perspective.