Are you an art lover? Check our favorite art galleries in the art’s block!
Miguel Bombarda Street, also known as Porto’s Art District or art’s block, is full of art galleries and cultural spaces. Every couple of months they gather together to host the “Simultaneous Openings”, a Saturday afternoon when they all inaugurate new exhibitions and the street gets full of people and bustle! Together with art galleries there’s plenty coffee shops, restaurants, cool stores and, of course, street art works for you to check out at Miguel Bombarda.
In order to help you discovering the area, today we share a list of our favorite art galleries in the Art District! Unnecessary to say that there’s much more than five cool galleries and you should check as many as you can, but these are our favorites :)
Quadrado Azul Gallery
R. Miguel Bombarda 578
Quadrado Azul got its name from a futuristic work done in 1917 by Almada Negreiros and Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, two main painters from the Portuguese avant-garde. The gallery opened in 1986 and was one of the first commercial exhibition spaces in town. They represent young and consecrated artists, both Portuguese and foreign.
Fernando Santos Gallery
R. Miguel Bombarda 526
Founded in 1993 by Fernando Santos – one of most respected gallery owners in the country – this gallery represents important national and international artists and regularly organizes temporary exhibitions. And it was one of the first art spaces to be at Miguel Bombarda Street!
São Mamede Gallery
R. Miguel Bombarda 624
In the 1960’s Francisco Pereira Coutinho opened in Lisbon a gallery dedicated to export the newest works of Portuguese painters and sculptors. After some decades of hard work and consequently success, in 2005 the gallery opened a new space in Porto – originally near the Crystal Palace gardens, but moved to the Bombarda District in 2013.
Múrias Centeno Gallery
R. Miguel Bombarda 531
Opened in 2007 as Reflexus Gallery, this gallery played an important role in the promotion of emerging and established contemporary art in Porto. In 2009 they expanded and moved to Miguel Bombarda, where all the fuss was happening! In 2014 the owner, Nuno Centeno, started a partnership with Bruno Múrias, changing the gallery’s name and opening a branch space in Lisbon.
Presença Gallery
R. Miguel Bombarda 570
Founded in 1995, a few years later they moved to the Arts District. Presença represents mainly Portuguese artists and intend to promote their work abroad, being especially present in different international art fairs. Don’t miss the work of Helena Almeida, one of the biggest names in the Portuguese contemporary art scene.
Enjoy our tips and make the best of your time in Porto! Check more of our Top 5 lists to get tons of inside tips! And don’t forget to book a tour with us to discover the city from a local’s perspective. If you like art, join a Porto Street Art Tour! Or if you want to live like a local, book a B Side Porto Tour ;)
