EDGAR MARTINS was born in Évora (Portugal) but grew up in Macau (China), where he published his first novel entitled “Mãe deixa-me fazer o pino”. In 1996 he moved to the UK, where he completed a BA in Photography and Social Sciences at the University of the Arts, as well as an MA in Photography Fine Art at the Royal College of Art (London).
His work is represented internationally in several high-profile collections, such as those of the V&A (London), the National Media Museum (Bradford, UK), RIBA (London), the Dallas Museum of Art (USA); Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian/Modern Art Centre (Lisbon), Fundação EDP (Lisbon), Fondation Carmignac (Paris), MAST (Italy), amongst others.
His first book—Black Holes & Other Inconsistencies—was awarded the Thames & Hudson and RCA Society Book Art Prize. A selection of images from this book was also awarded The Jerwood Photography Award in 2003.
Between 2002 and 2018 Martins published 15 separate monographs, which were also received with critical acclaim. These works were exhibited internationally at institutions such as PS1 MoMA (New York), MOPA (San Diego, USA), MACRO (Rome), Laumeier Sculpture Park (St. Louis, USA), Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon), Centro de Arte Moderna de Bragança (Bragança, Portugal), Centro International de Arte José de Guimarães (Guimarães, Portugal), Museu do Oriente (Lisbon), Centro de Arte Moderna (Lisbon), MAAT (Lisbon), CIAJG (Guimarães, Portugal), Centro Cultural Hélio Oiticica (Rio de Janeiro), The New Art Gallery Walsall (Walsall, UK), PM Gallery & House (London), The Gallery of Photography (Dublin), Ffotogallery (Penarth, Wales),The Wolverhampton Art Gallery & Museum (UK), Open Eye Gallery (Liverpool), among many others.
In 2010 the Centre Culturel Calouste Gulbenkian (Paris) hosted Edgar Martins’ first retrospective exhibition. Edgar Martins was the recipient of the inaugural New York Photography Award (Fine Art category, May 2008), the BES Photo Prize (Portugal, 2009), the SONY World Photography Award (Landscape category, 2009, Still-Life Cateogry, 2018, Architecture Cateogry, 2018), 1st prize in the Fine Art— Abstract category of the 2010 International Photography Awards and nominated for the Prix Pictet 2009. Edgar Martins was selected to represent Macau (China) at the 54th Venice Biennale.
Edgar Martins works and lives in the UK.
EDUCATION
2000
MA Photography and Fine Arts, Royal College of Art, London
1997
BA (Hons) Photography, University of the Arts, London
1996
Philosohphy & Humanities, Liceu de Macau
PRIZES
2018
Winner Sony World Photography Awards, 2018 (Still Life Category)
2nd place Sony World Photography Awards, 2018 (Architecture Category)
Winner of top prizes, at Lens Culture Art Photography Awards
2017
Juror’s choice Magnum/Lens Culture Awards, 2017
Honorable Mention, Hariban Award 2017
Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death Life and Other Interludes shortlisted for the Arles Photobook Award, 2017
Finalist, Voies Off Award, 2017
Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death Life and Other Interludes selected one of the best books of the year by Lens Culture
Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death Life and Other Interludes selected one of the best books of the year by 1000words magazine
2013
Finalist, New York Photography Awards, Fine Art Category, 2013
2012
Brighton Photo Biennale and Photobook Show 2012
2011
Selected for AI-AP
Finalist in Voies off 2011
Winning Entry Pro Photographer Awards 2010
2010 Artist Level Runners-Up: Photography Contest, Forward Thinking Museum
2010
Winner International photography Awards, Fine Art Abstract Category
Finalist LICC
Selected for AP+AI Annual, USA
2009
Second Prize for SONY World Photography Awards
Winner BES Photo Award
Finalist Prix Pictet Award
2008
Selected for ING Real Photography Award
AOP Awards, Winner, Contemporary Landscape & Cityscape
Semi-finalist in the Hasselblad Photography Masters
New York Photography Awards, Winner, Fine Art Category
Shortlisted for Arles and Photo Espanã Book Awards
Second Prize for Terry O Neil Award
Selected for the Format Festival 2009
Awarded National Media Museum Bursary
2007
Magenta Foundation Emerging Photographers Competition, Winner,
UK Category, Toronto, Canada
Awarded Arts Council Grants for Arts
2004
Infinity Awards, Finalist, Young Photographers Category
2003
RCA Society and Thames & Hudson Art Book Prize for ‘Black Holes &
Other Inconsistencies’
The Jerwood Photography Awards, Winner
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selection)
2019
Destinerrance, 3 Shadows Art Centre, Beijing
What Photography has in Common with an Empty Vase, MNAC, Lisbon
2018
The Poetic Impossibility to Manage the Infinite, The Leicester Museum of Art (New Walk Museum)
Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death, Life and Other Interludes, Pilar Serra, Madrid
Destinerrance, Purdy Hicks Gallery, Beijing
2017
Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death, Life and Other Interludes, St. John’s College Galleries, Oxford Photography Festival, UK
Destinerrance: the Place of the Dead is the Place of Photography, Centro de Arte José de Guimarães, Guimarães
2016
Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death, Life and Other Interludes, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon
Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death, Life and Other Interludes, MAAT, Lisbon
Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death, Life and Other Interludes, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool
2015
The Wayward Line, Chatêau Gruyères, part of the Alt+1000 Festival, Switzerland
The Poetic Impossibility to Manage the Infinite, The Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton
The Rehearsal of Space & The Poetic Impossibility to Manage the Infinite, Centro Cultural Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro
2014
The Rehearsal of Space & The Poetic Impossibility to Manage the Infinite, Sala da Cidade, Museu Municipal de Coimbra (an initiative by the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of Coimbra and The CalousteGulbenkian Foundation), Coimbra
The Rehearsal of Space & The Poetic Impossibility to Manage the Infinite, The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation / Modern Art Centre, Lisbon
The Rehearsal of Space & The Poetic Impossibility to Manage the Infinite, The Wapping Project Bankside, London
The Rehearsal of Space & The Poetic Impossibility to Manage theInfinite, Galerie Melanie Rio, Nantes
2013
The Time Machine (touring show), Galeria Fundação EDP, Porto; Gallery of Photography, Dublin; Ffotogallery, Penarth; Photofusion, London; Pátio da Inquisição / Fundação Eugénio Almeida, Évora
Ruins, the logic of facts and the logic of fictions, Laura Marsiaj Arte Contemporânea, Rio de Janeiro
2012
The Time Machine, Centre de Arte Contemporânea Graça Morais, Bragança
This is not a House (touring show), The Wapping Project Bankside, London; The Wapping Project, London
This is not a House, MouraMarsiaj Arte Contemporânea, São Paulo
The Time Machine, Melanie Rio Gallery, Nantes
2011
The TimeMachine, Yamamoto Gendai, Tokyo
The Time Machine, Museu da Electricidade, Lisbon
The Time Machine, The Wapping Project Bankside, London
A Metaphysical Survey of British Dwellings, Galerie Melanie Rio, Nantes
This is not a House (touring show), The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall; Camera16, Milan
2010
This is not a House, The Photographers’ Gallery (PSG), London
A Metaphysical Survey of British Dwellings, HS Gallery, London
Reluctant Monoliths, The Photographer’s Gallery, London
The WaywardLine, Centre Culturel Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Paris
2009
Topologies, Orient Foundation Museum, Lisbon
Reluctant Monoliths, Galerie Melanie Rio, Nantes
When Light Casts no Shadow, Galeria Graça Brandão, Lisbon
The AccidentalTheorist, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles
When Light Casts no Shadow, Porta 33, Funchal
When Light Casts no Shadow, Galerie Caprice Horn, Berlin
2008
When Light Casts no Shadow, Galerie Melanie Rio, Nantes
Topologies, La Caja Negra, Madrid
Topologies, Laura Marsiaj, Rio de Janeiro
Topologies, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles
2007
Aproximações, Galeria Graça Brandão, Lisbon
The Diminishing Present, BCA Gallery, Bedford
The Diminishing Present, Visual Arts Centre, Coimbra
2006
The Diminishing Present, Betty Cuningham Gallery, New York
The Diminishing Present, La Caja Negra, Madrid
The Rehearsal of Space, The Photographer’s Gallery (PSG), London
The Accidental Theorist, Galeria Graça Brandão, Porto
2005
The Diminishing Present, Photofusion, London
2004
The Rehearsal of Space, Macau Art Museum, Macau
Black Holes and Other Inconsistencies, Cadeia da Relação (Portuguese Centre of Photography), Porto
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selection)
2019
Civilisation: The Way we live now, Ullens Cotemporary Art Centre, Beijing
Lens Culture Art Awards, Aperture Foundation, New York
Format Festival, QUAD 2018
2018
Civilisation: The Way we live now, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
AOP50: Images that Defined the Age, Canary Wharf Art Events, London
Works from the collection of António Cachola, MNAC, Lisbon
Sony World Photography Awards, Sommerset House, London
10 Anos – obras da colecção, Centro de Arte Contemporânea Graça Morais, Bragança
We Tell Ourselves Stories… In Order to Live, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco
I’m Still Here, South Bank Centre, London
2nd Beijing Media Art Biennale, CAFA ART Museum, Beijing
PENDULUM: Moving Images, Moving People. Images from the MAST Foundation Collection. MAST, Bologna
2017
Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death, Life and Other Interludes, The Photographer’s Gallery (digital presentation as part of the Magnum and Lens Culture Awards)
The Power of Images: An Iconic Selection of Photographs on Industry and Work from the MAST Collection, MAST, Bologna
Habitat, FORMAT 2017, UK
10 years SONY World Photography Awards, Sommerset House, London
The Power of Images: An Iconic Selection of Photographs on Industry and Work from the Collection, MAST Foundation, Bologna
From La Biennale di Venezia to MACRO, curated by Paolo De Grandis, MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome
Este Lugar lembra-te algum sítio?, curated by Miguel Sousa Ribeiro, Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra, Coimbra
Este Lugar lembra-te algum sítio?, curated by Miguel Sousa Ribeiro, Centro de Artes e Cultura de Ponte de Sor, Ponte de Sor
2016
Este Lugar lembra-te algum sítio?, curated by Miguel Sousa Ribeiro, Centro para os Assuntos da Arte e Arquitectura (CAAA), Guimarães
Dubai Photo 2016
Linhas de Diálogo, Works from the collections of Fundación Coca-Cola and Novo Banco, Espaço Novo Banco, Lisboa
2015
Alt+1000 Festival, Switzerland
Everywhere is the same sky – A perspective on landscape from the collection of Norlinda and José Lima, Centro de Cultura Contemporânea de Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco
2014
Da Cartografia do Poder aos Itinerários do Saber, Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo
Grid Festival, Art’Otel, Amsterdam
Landscape, Galerie Melanie Rio, Nantes
2013
Landmark: Fields of Photography, Sommerset House, London
Heuristic Shinonome, Shinonome Photo Festival 2013, Tolot
2012
Intersections, Weizmann Istitute, Rehovot
Square Up, Espozsizione di fotografia contemporanea, Atelier dell'Arco Amoroso, Ancona, Piazza del Plebiscito, Acona (curated by: Daniele De Luigi and promoted by Associazione white.fish.tank)
FOTOGRAFIA – Festival Internazionale di Roma, MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome
A man is walking down the street. At a certain moment, he tries to recall something, but the recollection escapes him. Automatically, he slows down, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon
Edition IV Group Show, The Wapping Project Bankside, London
Paisagem Humana # 15, BES Arte & Finança, Lisbon
Arte Portuguesa do Séc. XX 1850-2010, MNAC, Museu do Chiado, Lisbon
Dead Cities, Galerie Melanie Rio, Nantes
Da Cartografia do Poder aos Itinerários do Saber, Museu de Arte Moderna de Brasília, Brasília
Da Cartografia do Poder aos Itinerários do Saber, Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo
The Near and the Elsewhere, PM Gallery & House, London, also featuring Frances Alÿs, Sarah Beddington, Edward Burtynsky, James Casebere, Tacita Dean, Thomas Demand, Andreas Gursky, Peter Piller
and Rachel Whiteread
‘Camp Out: Finding Home in an Unstable World’, Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis
Concurso Purification Garcia 2012, Círculo de Belas Artes, Madrid
Concurso Purification Garcia 2012, Sala de Exposiciones de la Biblioteca Central de Cantabria, Santander
Concurso Purification Garcia 2012, DA2 Salamanca, Salamanca
Concurso Purification Garcia 2012, Museu de Pontevedra, Pontevedra
Concurso Purification Garcia 2012, Centro Cultural Deputación Ourense, Ourense
2011
International Photography Festival, Bursa
Infinite Balance, Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) San Diego
Migration & Nomadic Living, Backlight Festival, Tampere Kunsthalle
The 54th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition, Memory & Mobility, Macau, China Pavilion
Something That I’ll Never Really See, Contemporary Phot. From the V&A, Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad
Da Cartografia do Poder aos Itinerários do Saber, Museu da Ciência da Universidade de Coimbra (a FCTUC & Museu Nacional - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro co-production (this exhibition will also be presented at Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro)
The Burrow, SIAKOS.HANAPPE House of Art, Athens
2010
Détournement, Galerie Melanie Rio, Nantes
Abrstraction, Château d'Eau, Toulouse
Aperture Presents, Boutique Montblanc, Paris
Impresiones Y Comentários: Fotografia Contemporánea Portuguesa, Sala Parpaló, Valência
Impresiones Y Comentários: Fotografia Contemporánea Portuguesa, Fundació Foto Colectania, Barcelona
Da Outra Margem do Atlântico: alguns exemplos de videoarte e fotografia portuguesa, Centro de arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro
Something That I’ll Never Really See, Contemporary Phot. from the V&A, BHAU Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai
A Culpa não é minha (obras da colecção António Cachola), Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon
15 min exhibition, Paraty em Foco, Paraty
15 min exhibition, Ateliê da Imagem Espaço Cultural, Rio de Janeiro
Da Outra Margem do Atlântico –alguns exemplos de videoarte e fotografia portuguesa, Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro
Des lendemaisn qui chantent, Galerie Melanie Rio, Nantes
What Lies Beneath, Swedish Embassy, Washington, Foto DC Week
Prix PictetShow, Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Thessaloniki
Prix Pictet Show, The Empty Quarter, Dubai
Prix Pictet Show, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven
Jogo de Espelhos, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Elvas, Elvas
2009
Lá Fora, Portuguese Artists, Museu da Electricidade, Lisbon
BES Award, Berardo Museum (CCB), Lisbon
Format Festival, Derby
International Photography Festival, Lodz, Poland
Opções eFuturos, PLMJ Collection, Museu da Cidade, Lisbon
Estuaire, Nantes Art Biennial 2009, Nantes
NYPHA, Invitational Pavilion, Tobacco Warehouse, New York
Scope Basel, The New Empire, Contemporary Chinese Photography, Miami
Paisagem, Centro de Artes Visuais, Coimbra
Entre o Céu e oMar, organized by Centro de Artes Visuais for Centro Cultural de Lagos in the context of "Art Algarve 2009", Lagos
Prix Pictet Award, Passage de Retz, Paris
2008
Lianzhou International Photo Festival, Lianzhou
Terry O’Neil Award, Fulham Palace, London
ING Real Photography Award, Las Palmas Museum, Rotterdam
Opções e Futuros, PLMJ Foundation, Lisbon
Linha do Horizonte, Centro Cultural da Caixa Económica Federal, Rio de Janeiro
Contemporary Portuguese Photography, Museu da Presidência da República, Viana do Castelo
That Was Then… This is Now, P.S. 1, MoMA, New York
Immoral Facts & Fables, Galerie Caprice Horn, Berlin
2007
On the Wall: Aperture Magazine ’05-’06, Aperture Gallery, New York
Migratory Phenomena: Photography and Video + Film Cycle, Economic and Social European Committee, Brussels
2006
Alentejo Elementar, Galeria Municipal de São Sebastião, Portalegre (this show toured other Portuguese Museums)
Constelações Afectivas, Galeria Graça Brandão, Lisbon
Selections from the Permanent Photography Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
2005
Represented, The Photographer’s Gallery (Print Sales Gallery), London
Newly Commissioned Work, Coimbra Visual Arts Centre, Coimbra
Extensão do Olhar, Coimbra Visual Arts Centre, Coimbra
2004
The Jerwood Photography Awards Winners Exhibition 2003, Jerwood Space London (this show toured other UK galleries)
COLLECTIONS
Victoria and Albert Museum, London (UK)
National Media Museum, Bradford (UK)
Museum Caloust Gulbenkian, Lisbon (PT)
PLMJ Foundation, Lisbon (PT)
Ilídio Pinho Foundation, Porto (PT)
MACE (Contemporary Art Museum), Elvas (PT)
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas (USA)
EDP Foundation/MAAT, Lisbon (PT)
Fundation Carminac, Paris (FR)
RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), London (UK)
CAV (Centro de Artes Visuais), Coimbra (PT)
Novobanco, Lisbon (PT)
Centro das Artes - Casa das Mudas, Madeira (PT)
Fundação Leal Rios, Lisboa (PT)
MAST, Bologna (IT)
Centro de Arte Contemporânea Graça Morais, Bragança (PT)
PUBLICATIONS (Selection)
2020
What Photography has in Common with an Empty Vase, MAM, Macau
2019
What Photography has in Common with an Empty Vase, The Moth House, Bedford
2018
Civilization (curated by William Ewing), Thames & Hudson, London
PENDULUM: Moving Images, Moving People. Images from the MAST Foundation’s Collection. MAST, Bologna
Photography and the Contemporary Cultural Condition - Commemorating the Present, Peter D. Osborne, Routledge/Taylor and Franics, UK, ISBN: 9780415736251
The Word is Art, Michael Petry, Thames & Hudson, UK, ISBN: 9780500239667
2017
Destinerrance: The Place of the Dead is the Place of Photography, CIAJG, Portugal
Masterworks of IndustrialPhotography, Exhibitions 2017 . Mast Foundation, Electa (Milan)
2016
Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death, Life & Other Interludes, The Moth House, Bedford
2015
0:00.00, The Moth House, Bedford
Crude Metaphors: A Dark Sky, Hot Shoe, London
2014
Art and Ecology Now (edited by Andrew Brown), Thames & Hudson, London
Landmark: the Fields of Photography (curated by William Ewing), Thames & Hudson, London
Perspectives on Place: Theory and Practice in Landscape Photography (edited by JesseAlexander), Bloomsbury, London
The Rehearsal of Space & The Poetic Impossibility to Manage the Infinite, La Fabrica / The Moth House
2013
Collector’s Edition (edited by Stuart Trolley), Thames & Hudson, London
2012
The Time Machine (Ltd. Edition), The Moth House/EDP Foundation
This is not a Hose (Ltd. Edition), Dewi Lewis
Vu Par David Lynch, Paris Photo/Steidl
Audible Silence, in Exploring the Senses: Beyond the Frame, The trout Gallery, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
2011
The Time Machine, The Moth House/EDP Foundation
This is not a Hose, Dewi Lewis
On the surface: public space and architectural images in debate (curated by Pedro Leão & Pedro Bandeira), FAUP/EUAM, Porto
The 54th International Venice Bennienale Exhibition, Macau Museum of Art, Macau
The 54th International Venice Bennienale Exhibition, La Biennale, Venice
Nomadic Living and Migration, Backlight Festival of Photography 2011, Tampere
2010
The Wayward Line, Centre Culturel Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris
2009
When Light Casts no Shadow, Dewi Lewis
BES Photo Award, Berardo Museum (CCB), Lisbon
‘Future Images’, guide to top 100 contemporary artists, published by 24ore Motta Cultura and curated by Raul Cresci & Radu Stern
Sotheby’s Guide to collecting Photography – published by Thames & Hudson and written by Jocelyn Phillips
Peter D. Osborne ‘The Unreachable Landscape: Some Themes in Photography in England from 1990 to 2007’ In Cahier Fotografie nr. 2, 09, Belgium
Prix Pictet: Earth, teNeues
BES Photo Award 2008, Berardo Museum (CCB), Lisbon
Flash Forward ‘09, Magenta Foundation, Toronto
2008
Edgar Martins: Topologies, Aperture
Topologies, Centro de Artes Visuais
Format Festival 2008, QUAD
Flash Forward ‘08, Magenta Foundation, Toronto
Anamnese: The Book, Fundação Ilídio Pinho, Porto
Linha do Horizonte: o motivo da paisagem na arte portuguesa contemporânea, Caixa Económica Cultural do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro
2006
The Diminishing Present, The Moth House, Bedford
Approaches, ANA
2003
Black Holes & Other Inconsistencies, The Moth House, Bedford