xUEkA | Artist at Mondoir

Nationality: Portuguese

Discipline: painting

Based in: Porto, PT

Biography

xUEkA was born in Porto in 1980, the city where he lives and works. Trained as a Civil Engineer, he spent years building a technical career while never abandoning painting, a practice that ran alongside his entire life, quietly and persistently. In 2022, he made the decision to dedicate himself entirely to art, making permanent what had always been inevitable. His work is built around the construction of a personal visual language, a system of symbols, patterns and repetitions that moves between the precision of a code and the freedom of intuitive mark-making. He does not depict the world: he builds parallel ones, dense and inhabitable, existing entirely on their own terms. In three years of professional practice, he has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Lisbon and the Algarve, and holds work in collections across the USA, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Singapore and Australia, a presence spanning four continents. Over 60% of his total output has already entered private collections, making xUEkA one of the most remarkable emerging voices in contemporary Portuguese art.

Artist Statement

I build languages. Not to be read, but to be felt, systems of symbols, patterns and repetitions that carry the weight of something ancient and something yet to exist. My work sits between structure and intuition, between the precision of a code and the freedom of a mark made without hesitation. Born and living in Porto, I have developed a visual vocabulary through years of sustained practice across painting and sculpture. Each symbol in my compositions is both autonomous and interdependent, a grammar invented in real time, refined through obsessive repetition until it finds its own coherence. I do not depict the world. I construct parallel ones. Process is central to what I do. I begin with a direction and surrender to where the work wants to go. The symbols accumulate, the patterns breathe, and something emerges that I did not fully plan but recognise as true. This tension, between control and release, between system and instinct, is the engine of my practice. My work has been shown in New York, Los Angeles, Lisbon and Algarve, and lives in collections spread across four continents. Whether on canvas, wall, or public space, the intention remains the same: to build something that exists entirely on its own terms, alive in the space between the viewer and the unknown.

Exhibitions

The Other Art Fair Los Angeles, USA | February 26 – March 1, 2026 NFT.NYC - "Neon Code" has been featured on Times Square billboards, New York City (2025) Exhibited at the NFT.NYC Terrace Art Gallery (2025) "5th Dimension" will be shown in the rooftop Artists Village gallery at NFT.NYC 2024 (North Javits, Hudson Yards April 3-5) and on the NFT.NYC website. Art Expo Algarve Sep 2023 (Portugal) Showcased at Art DAO Fest 2024 Showcased at NFC SUMMIT LISBON 2024