Italian and portuguese artist, HElena Valsecchi was born in Novara, Italy, in 1976. She currently lives and works between Lisbon and Peniche, Portugal.
After graduating in Public Relations at IULM, Milan, with a thesis in semiotics, on Urban Legends, and after a few years of professional experience in marketing and category management, she decided to leave to venture on a solo trip to South America, from Peru to Brasil, passing through Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, before returning to Europe to spend a few months in Lisbon, Portugal. During those months, she decided to settle in Portugal, where she later started her art practice.
In 2019 she was awarded a scholarship from Carmona e Costa Foundation and MArt.
She was a guest resident at RAMA, Residências Artísticas da Maceira e Alfeiria, and integrated the project team.
HElena bases her practice on her reflections about the sacred, its origins and essence, and the human need for it as an answer to the fragility of individual life, a necessity that translates the ever-unfulfilled yearning for a fusion between the singular and the whole, between the human body and the non-human body, individual life and universal life.
2023
- Dar a Mão. Artists: Alek Slon, António Olaio, Catarina Patrício, Diogo Bento, Eugenio Ampudia, Filipe Branquinho, HElena Valsecchi, Isabel Baraona, João Paulo Serafim, Luís Alegre, Luís Nobre, Luís Silveirinha, Miguel Branco, Orlando Franco, Pedro o Novo, Rita de Sá, Teresa Palma Rodrigues e o coletivo Tira-Olhos de Paula Lourenço e Sofia Silva. Curator: Orlando Franco. Espaço.arte, Campo Maior. July 22nd – October 15th.
- O Lugar do Espectador. With Ana Pérez-Quiroga. Curator: João Silvério. Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra – Círculo Sereia, Coimbra. June 3rd – September 23th.
2022
- Quarry Sonnets, international art residency developed by LIDA and ESAD.CR. Vale de Meios, Portugal.
- Uma Certa Prática da Atenção, group exhibition. Curator: Ana Anacleto. Paços, Galeria Municipal de Torres Vedras.
- Group exhibition. Galeria Sá da Costa, Lisbon.
- Synecdoche, solo exhibition. Text by João Silvério. Galeria Sá da Costa, Lisbon.
- Guest artist in residence at RAMA, Art Residencies of Maceira and Alfeiria (Portugal) with final exhibition, curated by João Silvério.
2021:
- I Denti della Terra – art residency in Portugal’s West Coast, with artist Davide Canali. Online portfolio at: www.identidellaterra.com
2020
- Art Residency at RAMA – Residências Artísticas, Maceira, Torres Vedras, Portugal.
- “Insterstício”, collective exhibition | Workshop with Vasco Barata. MAAT, Lisbon, Portugal.
- “Exposição de Bolseiros MArt 2019/2020”, Galeria Sá da Costa, Lisbon, Portugal.
2019
- Art residency at “Casa Animal” with Musa Paradisíaca. Fábrica da Pólvora, Vale de Milhaços, Portugal.
- “Ronda da noite”, final exhibition of MArt’s “Acadêmia de Verão”. “Montejunto 1” project was awarded with Fundação Carmona e Costa / MArt bursary for the 2019-2020 MArt Artistic Residency program. Lisbon, Portugal
- “PLACELESS”, solo exhibition. Lx Factory, Lisbon, Portugal.
- “Coexistência e Negociação”, collective exhibit. Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães, Cascais, Portugal.
2018
- ArtParma Fair with “809 Art Gallery”, Parma, Italy
- Ar.Co Art Residency, São Carlos Theater, Lisbon, Portugal.
2023: Umbigo Magazine – https://umbigomagazine.com/en/blog/2023/08/01/o-que-vemos-o-que-nos-olha-o-lugar-do-espectador-no-capc-em-coimbra/
2022: Umbigo Magazine – https://umbigomagazine.com/pt/blog/2022/07/13/synecdoche-helena-valsecchi-na-galeria-sa-da-costa/
2021: ArteCapital – https://www.artecapital.net/snapshot-78-helena-valsecchi
2021: “I Denti della Terra” project, with Davide Canali:
https://www.sapereambiente.it/arte/i-denti-della-terra-intervista-allartista-davide-canali/
https://www.arte.go.it/i-denti-della-terra-la-natura-e-il-sacro-luomo-e-lintangibile/
Currently attending a Master in Visual Arts at ESAD.CR, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.
2023: Atelier Design – Sopro, Arte e Design I, II, III – Glass blowing training. Cencal, Marinha Grande.
2021: “Art creation from a place” with Carla Rebelo.
2020: “Insterstício”. Workshop with Vasco Barata. MAAT, Lisbon, Portugal.
2019-2020: Resident Artist at MArt with a Scholarship by Fundação Carmona e Costa and MArt. Lisbon.
2018-2019: Courses / Mentorships. MArt, Lisbon, Portugal.
2018: “A Sombra e o seu Duplo” with Fabrizio Montecchi, Museu da Marioneta, Lisbon, Portugal
2018: Drawing and painting, 2nd year. Ar.Co. Lisbon, Portugal.
2014: “Workshop Prático para Fazer uma Escultura Básica em Madeira” with Claire de Santa Coloma – Moinho da Fonte Santa, Alandroal, Portugal.
1999 – Graduate in Public Relations – IULM, Milan, Italy.