Joana Galego
Portuguese artist Joana Galego’s images are informed by – in her words – ‘memories and feelings rather than actual events’. Firmly rooted in drawing, her paintings and works on paper are characterised by a vibrant palette and a visual language partly inspired by historical artists.
Joana uses layering and changes of perspective to create multiple narratives within her compositions, which range from intimate to grand in scale. Figures – both adult and childlike – are seen hiding, embracing, resting and playing together in a range of dreamlike scenarios. However, a sense of stillness prevails, despite the activities of the artist’s subjects.
Joana’s combining of mixed media - which includes pastel, pencil, acrylic and charcoal - provides areas of texture within her works on paper. Collaged sections contrast with detailed linear areas resulting in a seductive surface quality. Heightened colour runs through many of her works; it is used, she says, ‘to evoke the emotion of the figures, what they are feeling, and to create an atmosphere’.
Joana graduated from the University of Lisbon in 2016 and subsequently moved to London to attend the Royal Drawing School between 2016 and 2017. Her work has been awarded prizes including The Sir Denis Mahon Award from the Royal Drawing School (2017) and she has undertaken several artistic residencies internationally. Oliver Projects first exhibited Joana’s work in our 2023 group exhibition ‘Power Play’. A solo exhibition followed in Lisbon at Galeria Belard in spring 2024 and Soho Revue, London, presented a joint exhibition of work by Joana alongside Alice Macdonald in December 2024. Most recently, Joana’s work was included in ‘Monotypes’ at Messums, London; a solo exhibition was also presented by Isabel Sullivan Gallery in New York, USA in 2025. Joana currently lives and works in south east London.
Our recent exhibition Hiding Behind Gifts was Joana’s first solo show dedicated exclusively on works on paper. View the exhibition catalogue.
Shop works by Joana Galego
Acrylic, watercolour and mixed media on paper, 73 x 59cm
Portugese-born artist Joana Galego’s images are informed by – in her words – ‘memories and feelings rather than actual events’. Firmly rooted in drawing, her paintings and works on paper are characterised by a vibrant palette and a visual language partly inspired by historical artists including Piero de la Francesca and Paul Gaugin.
This new, framed mixed media work on paper is part of our latest online collection and exhibition ‘Almost Blue’. Featuring layering and collage it is typical of Joana’s compositions which use changes of perspective and scale to create multiple narratives. The powerful blue hue of the protagonist’s dress dominates the image and for the artist, represents ‘immense, drowning, comforting colour’. Joana says; ‘I’m constantly drawn to the idea of people caring for each other, but I’ve only started thinking about angels more recently. I think angels move within the realm of miracles, and therefore of tireless hope. At the same time, I think they stand for innocence, and that’s something I find very present in the ‘real’ world. Caring angels made of flesh and bone.’
Joana graduated from the University of Lisbon in 2016 and subsequently moved to London to attend the Royal Drawing School between 2016 and 2017. Her work has been exhibited in numerous group shows in London and Portugal including the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize for which she was shortlisted in 2019. Solo exhibitions include ‘Spring and All’ at the Royal Drawing School, London, in 2019, and ‘Mole Lunar Sinal’ at Soho Revue in 2023. Joana has been awarded prizes including The Sir Denis Mahon Award from the Royal Drawing School (2017). She has undertaken artistic residencies in the USA, Portugal and India and her work is held in numerous private collections. She currently lives and works in south east London.
Watercolour on paper, 32 × 24cm
Portugal-born artist Joana Galego’s images are informed by – in her words – ‘memories and feelings rather than actual events’. Firmly rooted in drawing, her paintings and works on paper are characterised by a vibrant palette and a visual language partly inspired by historical artists.
This framed, watercolour on paper is part of a new body of work titled ‘Hiding Behind Gifts’. Contrasting with some of the more heavily layered, collaged pieces in the collection, it has areas of light - which serve to illuminate the figure - juxtaposed with translucent layers watercolour. It is one of a number of works where the artist’s subject protects a bird in her lap - in this case, from the ‘wildfires’ that blaze in the distance.
This work was framed in maple by The Framing Room, London, behind anti-reflective, 70% UV resistant glass.
Joana graduated from the University of Lisbon in 2016 and subsequently moved to London to attend the Royal Drawing School between 2016 and 2017. Her work has been awarded prizes including The Sir Denis Mahon Award from the Royal Drawing School (2017) and she has undertaken several artistic residencies internationally.
Oliver Projects first exhibited Joana’s work in our 2023 group exhibition ‘Power Play’. A solo exhibition followed in Lisbon at Galeria Belard in spring 2024 and Soho Revue, London, presented a joint exhibition of work by Joana alongside Alice Macdonald in December 2024. Most recently, Joana’s work was included in ‘Monotypes’ at Messums, London; a solo exhibition was also presented by Isabel Sullivan Gallery in New York, USA in 2025. Joana currently lives and works in south east London.
Mixed media on paper, 88 × 93cm
Portugese-born artist Joana Galego’s images are informed by – in her words – ‘memories and feelings rather than actual events’. Firmly rooted in drawing, her paintings and works on paper are characterised by a vibrant palette and a visual language partly inspired by historical artists.
This large-scale, mixed media work is part of ‘Hiding Behind Gifts’, a new collection of works on paper by the artist. Complex and multi-layered, it combines drawn, painted and collaged components often made in different places at different times. With its intense blue palette, ‘After the Spectacle’ is rich with the emotion that runs through all of Joana’s works. She describes it as ‘the most detached one of the group, suggesting an invisible wall between the individual and the crowd. The theatricality of it again, as if a performance had just finished, and she was the dancer or the singer.’
This work was framed in maple by The Framing Room, London, behind anti-reflective, 70% UV resistant glass.
Joana graduated from the University of Lisbon in 2016 and subsequently moved to London to attend the Royal Drawing School between 2016 and 2017. Her work has been awarded prizes including The Sir Denis Mahon Award from the Royal Drawing School (2017) and she has undertaken several artistic residencies internationally.
Oliver Projects first exhibited Joana’s work in our 2023 group exhibition ‘Power Play’. A solo exhibition followed in Lisbon at Galeria Belard in spring 2024 and Soho Revue, London, presented a joint exhibition of work by Joana alongside Alice Macdonald in December 2024. Most recently, Joana’s work was included in ‘Monotypes’ at Messums, London; a solo exhibition was also presented by Isabel Sullivan Gallery in New York, USA in 2025. Joana currently lives and works in south east London.