Pedro Cabrita Reis is one of Portugal’st most renowned visual artists
Faro’s official programme of celebrations for its Municipal Day, celebrated on September 7, started one day earlier with the grand inauguration of the sculpture ‘Neptuno’ (Neptune).
This piece, an original creation by the renowned visual artist Pedro Cabrita Reis was previously on display at the Municipal Museum since 2020 and has now found its permanent home in the renovated Jardim da Alameda (Alameda Garden).
Inspired by the Roman mosaic carpet of the God Oceanus and classified as a National Treasure exhibited at the Municipal Museum of Faro, ‘Neptuno’ was conceived by Pedro Cabrita Reis for the ‘Four Sculptures and a Self-Portrait’ exhibition, which featured works from the Serralves Collection along with the artist’s unpublished pieces.
Reis, originally from Lisbon but a resident of the Algarve, attended the inauguration ceremony and expressed his happiness at having the opportunity to create this sculpture at the request of the municipality and seeing now find a new home at a garden which before its revamp “looked sad but is now beautiful”.
He also stressed how the garden has now become a lively hub for families, children, couples, and individuals seeking respite.
“A garden is precisely this: a place to enjoy nature in the heart of the town, and this sculpture now holds the same value as these trees; it becomes part of a ‘forest of thought,’” said Reis, who is considered one of Portugal’s most acclaimed national and international visual artists.
Also attending the ceremony was Faro Mayor, Rogério Bacalhau, who expressed his gratitude for the artist’s dedication and work.
Bacalhau described Pedro Cabrita Reis as a celebrated artist who, “in addition to being an ‘Algarvian,’ has also become a resident of Faro and has been a friend of the Faro municipality, helping us grow in the cultural sphere.”
“The Alameda Garden was a space that was dying, and it reopened about a year ago after a complete redevelopment. Now, in addition to the life it already had, it certainly becomes much richer with the installation of this piece by an artist as nationally and internationally recognised as Pedro Cabrita Reis,” the mayor added.
