Macau Lifestyle
  • What's On

    Categories

    • Giveaways
    • Entertainment

    Recent Stories

    Noite e Dia Cafe Christmas Buffet Dinner Turkey
    Festive Feastings, New Year Menus & More at Hotel Lisboa!
    Events & Promotions
    Lisboa Bend 90 degree turn macau grand prix
    69th Macau Grand Prix: Hotel Lisboa’s Fiery Grand Prix Packages
    Events & Promotions
    Macau Lifestyle Wynn Macau Croiffle and Cruffin afternoon tea outdoors2
    Win an Exquisite Afternoon Tea Set at Café Esplanada
    Giveaways
  • Dining

    Categories

    • Restaurants
    • Local Eats
    • Cafes
    • Bars
    • Chef Spotlight

    Recent Stories

    Voyages by Alain Ducasse_Gin Trolley
    Where to Have Gin & Tonic in Macau
    Bars
    pho tik pho peach tea macau lifestyle
    Delicious Noodles & Where to Eat Them in Macau
    Local Eats
    Baked Pork Chop Rice rossio mgm macau copy
    Eight Must-Try Dishes at MGM MACAU You Don’t Want to Miss
    Dining
  • Lifestyle

    Categories

    • Wellness
    • Weddings
    • Family
    • People

    Recent Stories

    hac-sa-reservoir-park
    Top 10 Things to Do With Kids in Macau
    Family
    Macau Lifestyle Macallan 12 MAC_2018_DC12_NEAT_Lifestyle_Photo_RGB
    Whisky Review: The Macallan Single Malt Whisky Double Cask Range
    Lifestyle
    steve-mccurry
    The Best of Two Worlds: The Macallan Single Malt Whisky Double Cask Range
    Lifestyle
  • Culture

    Categories

    • Arts
    • Heritage & History
    • Architecture
    • Artist Spotlight
    • Local Knowledge

    Recent Stories

    hac-sa-reservoir-park
    Top 10 Things to Do With Kids in Macau
    Family
    st regis bar macao Tastemaker
    Where to Find Delicious Whiskey-Based Cocktails in Macau
    Bars
    Old Postcard circa 1900 from Macau Antique Postcards by Joao Loureiro
    Bela Vista Hotel: From Lavish Hotel to Wartime Refuge
    Culture
  • Style

    Categories

    • Fashion
    • Jewelry & Watches
    • Beauty
    • Home

    Recent Stories

    Wayuu Bag Macau
    Businesses in Macau: Taking Ideas to the Next Level
    Culture
    Longines Master Collection Now Shines in Macau
    Longines Master Moonphase Now Shines in Macau
    Jewelry & Watches
    Clara Brito on a Fashion Shoot
    Clara Brito: Taking Action Through Fashion
    Fashion
  • Travel

    Categories

    • Macau
    • China
    • Asia
    • Oceania
    • Europe

    Recent Stories

    hac-sa-reservoir-park
    Top 10 Things to Do With Kids in Macau
    Family
    Macau city
    A Stopover Guide: 24 Hours in Macau
    Travel
    Kenji Rukkit Gus graffiti street art outloud festival praca ponte e horta art one day macau
    One Day in Macau: Art Itinerary
    Arts
  • Hong Kong

    Categories

    • What's On
    • Dining
    • Things to Do
    • Hotels

    Recent Stories

    Grand Hyatt HK_French GourMay Staycation (3)
    French GourMay at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Offers a Bespoke Culinary Trip to France
    Dining
    The Upper House Salisterra Main Dining Room
    Salisterra Showcases Exquisite Mediterranean Cuisine at The Upper House Hong Kong
    Dining
    Artist Wu Yi – Tang Contemporary gallery- Macau Lifestyle WY1
    Wu Yi: A Painter’s Painter
    Artist Spotlight
  • City Guide
  • 繁中
Arts
by Leonor Sá Machado

Art in Macau: Famous Local Artists

local macau artists mio pang fei

Featured image: Still from Mio Pang Fei (2014), directed by Pedro Cardeira, Inner Harbour Films. Source: Inner Harbour Films website

Macau might be a small region, but it sure is a hub for talented people, including artists from all walks of life and areas of knowledge. Here, we take a look at the most famous local artists one can find in Macau. They’ve had their works exhibited throughout the world and some are still practicing their art. We take a trip across painting, literature, theater, and fashion in 21st century Macau, so come with us and get to know Macau’s famous local artists!

Mio Pang Fei

(See featured image above)

Mio Pang Fei is a Chinese painter born in 1936. He studied in his hometown of Shanghai, where he later was a guest professor at the Fine Arts College of Shanghai University. He taught oil painting “a western art technique that his work assimilated with vibrancy and liberty of expression”, according to Creative Macau’s biography of the author. He started by studying engineering, later changing to fine arts at Fujian Provincial Institute. There, he noticed missing time frames in the teachings of Art History and so his curiosity led him to look for these missing pieces leading to him falling in love with the impressionism, fauvism and cubism art waves.

During the Cultural Revolution, his art was not well regarded by the government in charge, leading the painter to only produce ‘officially accepted’ art. After a troubled youth under this regime, Mio tried emigrating to the US and later Hong Kong, but neither was successful. Then, he moved to Macau in the 80s. Here, he kept doing his art, starting to combine both western and oriental styles and techniques. He is also strongly dedicated to Chinese calligraphy. In 2015, at almost 80 years old, the artist was invited to represent Macau in the Venice Biennale. The documentary Mio Pang Fei (2014), directed by Pedro Cardeira is worth a watch since it’s not just about art. It focuses on the main issues from those troubled times of Chinese history. Find out more about the movie here.

Konstantin Bessmertny local macau artist

Photo credit: Eduardo Martins

Konstantin Bessmertny

Russian artist Konstantin Bessmertny found a home in Asia, now based in Macau. His surreal pieces of art portray humanity in an exquisite, unique and ironic way. He’s been capturing the imaginations of different members of society from all corners of the world, including from his home country of Russia. He was born in Blagoveschensk, the former USSR, in 1964, and graduated from The School of Fine Art in the same city he was born in.

With an extraordinary work portfolio ranging from painting to sculpture, illustration, and installations, Bessmertny is one of Macau’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, having participated in more than 50 exhibitions throughout the world. His works are usually entangled on a narrative, something that can challenge viewers and trigger thinking. For Bessmertny, artists have no royalties on their ideas or concepts, since viewers are free to interpret the work as they desire. And this, he says, has been happening throughout history–artists depict one thing, and crowds see something else or at least, what they want to.

Mostly focused on “good old oil” on canvas or panels, the Russian artist leaves a bit of his studio time for experimenting. From sculpture to graphics, conceptual art to kinetics, video and performance art are some of the other areas of art he explores.

local macau artists Carlos Marreiros

Photo credit: Gloria Vong

Carlos Marreiros

A Macanese artist and architect of many skills, Carlos Marreiros is best known for being the founder of Marreiros Arquitectos Associados and president of Albergue SCM, where his atelier is located. He is also one of Macau’s most well-known artists, having contributed greatly to the city’s development when it comes to the local art scene. Born in Macau (1957), Marreiros studied architecture in Portugal, Sweden, Macau, and Germany, later returning to his homeland in 1983, where he held office as an artistic director of Revista de Cultura and then as the president of Macao Cultural Bureau (1989-92). Marreiros was also a university professor at institutions in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, but also Lisbon, Berkeley (USA), Milan (Italy) and others. In 2013, the Macanese figure was invited and represented the region as a visual artist at the 55th Venice Art Biennial. He is an art connoisseur and this includes literature; so much so that all his cats have famous writers’ names.

Time is of the essence and, to Marreiros dismay, is at a premium. Painting requires time but architecture takes up a lot of his schedule. Therefore, drawing is the medium the artist most explores in his work. Amongst his most well-known works is the Urbanidades series which integrates big canvases with drawings in Chinese ink depicting urban sceneries that combine reality and fiction. This resulted in meters-long drawings telling stories about imaginary worlds. The architect has one of these at his studio where the São Paulo and Santo António neighborhoods of Macau are the only historically accurate ones depicted while the rest comes from his imagination. There is one measuring five meters and an eight-meter long piece as well.

Macau Lifestyle Antonio Conceicao Junior

Photo credit: Nuno Veloso

António Conceição Júnior

Besides writing, painting, photographing and promoting culture in Macau, he was also the president of Sporting Clube de Macau, a Macanese football club. Conceição Júnior has a vast range of experiences in his career portfolio, all related to art. In the 80s and 90s, he was one of Macau’s most prominent fashion designers who traveled around the world, showing his creations on catwalks, shops and more. A. Cejunior is the name of his fashion brand.

He also published several books and articles and is known for having modernized the local cultural system. Conceição Júnior was born in 1951 in one of the oldest and most important families in the region. His mother (Deolinda da Conceição) was a teacher and a great writer who taught her son to love art and also languages. As a result, Conceição Júnior speaks fluent Portuguese, English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.

After graduating with a distinction in Painting, Design, and Communication from Lisbon Fine Arts School (1975), he returned to Macau to serve in mandatory military service. He then went on to be the first full-time director of Luís de Camões Museum, later working in an exhibition about Macau presented at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Conceição Júnior was also an art director for the Macau Cultural Institute from 1982 to 1984 and wrote several books, including Conversations of Coffee and Tea (2012) and Writings of Love and Disaffection (2015). The sports fan also has a passion for Japanese culture, having founded Bladesign, a brand of his own custom design swords, which he avidly collects.

pakeong

Photo credit: João Padinha

Fortes Pakeong Sequeira

He is the youngest on this list but deserves as much attention and merit as any Macau artist. Pakeong had a rough life during his teen years, but his talent surfaced in such a strong way it was impossible for it to be unnoticed. He was born in Macau, 1978, graduated in Graphic Design (from the Macau Polytechnic Institute) and participated in more than a dozen exhibitions. A biography of the author was published in book format in 2015.

His works are now valued at millions of Patacas and there’s a good reason for that. In a surreal black and white world, the Macanese artist forges unique imageries from his imagination right onto the canvas. In his own studio or live, Pakeong prefers black permanent oil-based marker to draw the energy that spreads out from his insides. There are infinite messages, people and scenes that the artist tries communicating through his art. People can see his pieces at his studio and Porta da Arte. However, Pakeong’s talents aren’t just limited to marker and canvas. He’s also the co-founder and lead singer of local rock band, Blademark. With most of the lyrics in Chinese, the collective is a favorite amongst Macau crowds.

Tags

  • art macao
  • Carlos Marreiros
  • Macau Artists
  • Macau lifestyle
  • Mio Pang Fei
  • Pakeong

Related Posts

Kenji Rukkit Gus graffiti street art outloud festival praca ponte e horta art one day macau
Arts

One Day in Macau: Art Itinerary

hac-sa-reservoir-park
Family

Top 10 Things to Do With Kids in Macau

st regis bar macao Tastemaker
Bars

Where to Find Delicious Whiskey-Based Cocktails in Macau

Portuguese Consulate that was a Hospital Right Angle Macao Archives
Culture

Portuguese Heritage: From Catholic Hospital to Diplomatic Institution

Trending Posts

Dining

The Best Places for a Valentine’s Day Date in Macau

Dining, Local Eats, Restaurants

Macau’s Best Buffets

Sands Cotai Central Chiado restaurant suckling pig
Dining, Restaurants

The Best Places to Eat Real Portuguese Food in Macau

Cuppa Coffee Macau
Dining, Local Eats

Good Morning Macau: Best Cafes for Breakfast

  • Editor's Picks

    ladies night macau Bars

    Where My Ladies At: The Best Ladies’ Night Offers in Macau

    From free-flow champagne to free Prosecco bottles, check our list of the best ladies’ night offers in Macau.

    Salvador Dali Alice in Wonderland Macau Lifestyle hidden artwork Macau Arts

    Art Masterpieces in Macau You Did Not Know Existed

    Some pieces of art are in the most prominent spots, but there are some artwork that remain hidden in Macau. Here’s where you can find them!

    Cuppa Coffee Macau Dining

    Good Morning Macau: Best Cafes for Breakfast

    As breakfast is the most important meal of the day, here’re our favorite cafes in Macau to head to for a hearty breakfast!

    Wayuu Bag Macau Culture

    Businesses in Macau: Taking Ideas to the Next Level

    Macau is a small city, but it sure has a lot of new businesses popping up. We rounded up a list of cool businesses to check out and support!

    start line photo Lifestyle

    Top Running Routes in Macau

    Make the effort to get up 30 minutes earlier from tomorrow onwards and check out any of these stunning running routes in Macau.

    The Ritz-Carlton Bar & Lounge Gin Collection Bars

    Best Places for Happy Hour in Macau

    After a long day at work, you need a relaxing place to unwind. We have the best places in Macau for happy hour deals on drinks and snacks!

    Zics Macau Brand Source Facebook page Fashion

    Macau Fashion Brands: Celebrate Local Design

    Discover some Macau fashion brands that are making waves due to the fabulous designers behind each of their fresh and genius creations.

    Flora Garden playground Family

    The Best Playgrounds for Kids in Macau

    Macau is full of parks and leisure areas that feature some amazing play areas. Here’s a list of the best playgrounds in Macau for the tykes!

    Maria do Leste Bloody Mary from St Regis Macao Updated Photo 2020 Bars

    Shaken or Stirred: Macau’s Best Cocktails

    The world of mixology often proves to be as diverse and surprising as the one of gastronomy. Exercising talent and immense creativity, Macau’s bartenders keep creating signature cocktails that impress us with both flavors and presentation. If you are tired and bored with mojitos and negronis and need tips on what else to try, check out our guide to Macau’s best cocktails. 

    sound-of-century-vintage-sound-machines-museum Arts

    Macau’s Quirkiest Museums

    When art and history collections are inspected, it’s time to learn things that even locals might not know. Read on to plan a visit to Macau’s quirkiest museums.

    Pataca currency Local Knowledge

    The Pataca Story: The Peculiar History of Macau’s Currency

    The Pataca is special as not many countries the size of Macau would have their currency. Read on to find out about the origins of the Pataca.

    sw-steakhouse-barcounter-cocktails-macau-wynn-palace Bars

    SW Steakhouse Bar at Wynn Palace: Home of Barrel-Aged Cocktails

    Known as one of the best restaurants for juicy prime cuts, SW Steakhouse at Wynn Palace also features a bar with must-try cocktails.

    Vintage Around Exterior Front View Macau Lifestyle Culture

    Where to Shop Vintage in Macau

    If you’re a fashionista obssessed with all things vintage, this selection of the best vintage shops in Macau is for you. Happy shopping!

    Negroni bar patua mgm cotai macau lifestyle Bars

    Where to Have an Unforgettable Negroni in Macau

    Check our list of the best bars in Macau that serve the Italian bitter-sweet cocktail, Negroni, from classic recipes to original twists!

    Coloane hiking trail Culture

    Guide to Coloane’s Hiking Trails

    Coloane is home to most of the hiking trails in town. We walked them all and came up with the most comprehensive Coloane hiking trails guide.

    sponge-cake-macau-lifestyle-chinese-pastries Dining

    A Tour of Traditional Chinese Pastries in Macau

    Every tourist coming to Macau can make a fast conclusion that cookies and pastries here are held in high regard. Where do you start, and what do you eat? To get acquainted with a curious word of local sweets, check our guide to the Chinese pastries in Macau.

    Signature cocktail - Patuá mgm cotai macau Bars

    Bar Patuá at MGM Macau: Language of Mixology

    Whether it is cool cocktails, stunning design, or engaging conversations with a bartender, Bar Patuá has a lot to offer. Learn more in our review!

    ramen pro macau lifestyle Dining

    Delicious Ramen Spots in Macau

    A hot bowl of Japanese ramen would surely satisfy any noodle craving. Slurp away at these ramen places in Macau!

    Tsung I Macau Culture

    Jao Tsung-I: Prominent Sinologist & Literature Researcher in Macau

    Jao Tsung-I was a key figure in the study of ancient literature and history, as well as a prolific Chinese calligraphy artist.

    63c4f00b-ca84-4eda-8f54-1fc5b633bee6_l Architecture

    Macau’s Tap Seac Square by Carlos Marreiros

    Have you ever wondered about Tap Seac Square, its history, and what used to be there? Find out more about its history and right here!

    girl with dog and cocktail cafe Cafes

    Best Pet Friendly Cafes in Macau

    Unwilling to leave your fur child behind while you stroll the streets of Macau? Here are pet-friendly cafes in Macau for you to bring your furry friend to!

    Camões Bust in Grotto Culture

    The Camões Phenomena: All the Way From Portugal to Macau

    Portuguese poet Camões is well-known in Macau. But do you know why? We tell you some interesting facts about the author’s life!

    hiro ramen venetian macau lifestyle Dining

    Get Warm: Best Ramen Spots in Taipa

    We have composed a list of the best ramen spots in Taipa to warm your heart and soul, the Japanese way, with a hot bowl of ramen!

    beijing memory li xiao feng mandarin oriental macau art Arts

    Art at Mandarin Oriental, Macau: Porcelain Dresses & Contemporary Glass Installations

    Read on to see how Mandarin Oriental, Macau, highlights its style and identity with art and design masterpieces by different artists.  

    Nam Ping Exterior Frontdoor Macau Lifestyle Dining

    Nam Ping: A Local Foodie Haven Nestled in Old Macau

    Set in Rua de Cinco de Outubro, Nam Ping is nestled in the city center, opened for more than 30 years, serving simple, mouthwatering dishes.

    Studio City Vinca Foot Spa Foot Massage Chairs Blurred Background Macau Lifestyle Lifestyle

    Best Places for Foot Massages in Macau

    Foot massages are a special treat especially when you’re feeling stressed and fatigued so get your fix at these amazing places in Macau!

    Rooftop Macau Upstairs Terrace Dining

    Best Rooftops in Macau to Relax At

    Chilling on a rooftop with a cold drink is the best way to spend a day. Here’s a list of some of the hippest trending rooftops in Macau!

    Chou Kei Dining

    Local Eats: Where to Have Instant Noodles With Egg & Luncheon Meat in Macau

    Instant noodles taste much better topped with a fried egg and luncheon meat! Here are the best places in Macau to have this delicacy.

    _Aesop_Skin_Care_PLUS_2021 – SC+ family Beauty

    How Aesop’s the Skincare+ Range Is Revolutionizing Self-Care

    Self-care is good skincare. At the forefront of this is Aesop’s The Skincare+ Range that’s guaranteed to nourish and improve the skin.

    banyan tree macau_Spa_Royal Treatment Room Lifestyle

    Macau’s Best Spas

    Macau is a wold-class destination and this extends to its spas as well. Check out our list of spas in Macau offering the best in relaxation.

  • About
  • The Team
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact Us

COPYRIGHT © 2023 • MACAU LIFESTYLE

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Receive Macau Events Agenda, the Hottest Giveaway Offers and the Latest Article Updates!