Biographies

On this page you will find some details of our biographies. As a couple of artists we started to work together since 1984. Carlos started to paint and making collages since 1970 during the military service.

ANA SANTOS

Born in Lisbon in 1950. After secondary school, she became interested in art at once, first as a model and later as a photographer and photo assistant, working directly with the Portuguese photographer Sérgio Guimarães. He lived and worked in the years 60/70 in New York, London, Paris, Berlin and other European cities.
Later in the mid-70s, he was dedicated to the puppet theater, and participated as an actress in numerous festivals of the kind. Following this experience as AS puppeteer was invited to join the independent company of the Iberian Theatre, been the company's lead actress in late 1983. In this capacity participated in numerous national and international representations (Lisbon, Porto, Madrid, Sitges (Barcelona ), Murcia and El Paso (USA). In this last international festival she won the award for the best leading actress.
In the same year cooperates with Mario Cesariny and Carlos Martins (with whom would marry a year later), in organizing the international exhibition "Surrealism and Painting Fantastic." After the exhibition leaves the house where they lived and travels with her husband to the Northeast Algarve and both create the first art gallery in the region. The gallery called "Nova Atlântida" (New Atlantis) and  conducted several collective and individual exhibitions for about five years, and quickly won the recognition of local cultural resources and Spain (see Directory Art Portugal / Spain published in both countries).
Back in Lisbon in 1991 continues to participate in various national and international exhibitions, including the ISPA art gallery with other portuguese artists like Cruzeiro Seixas, Raul Perez and Carlos Martins.
From 1994 to 2014 back to work as a theater actress and entertainer acting for children and adults in various kinds of events.
In November 2014 traveled to London and then to different villages in Hampshire County for working as a professional carer in particular to support and give caring to elderly suffering from Alzheimer and Parkinson´s diseases.
Beyond the companionship and giving personal care, medication and other tasks she could also transmitted her experience as an artist developing various activities with their patients on the art field.  She got all the mandatory certificates on the carer service and are available to work in different European countries where this profession is well considered.
She returned to Portugal in last January 2019 but travel frequently to UK to work with several carer companies.
Her artworks (in painting and in artistic ceramics), are counted by thousands and are currently part of private collections, particularly in the US, Germany, Austria, Portugal, United Kingdom, Belgium, among many others.
Ana is one the owners of the Via Aurea Art Gallery located in Quinta do Conde, Sesimbra (Portugal) with an online presence in different social networks such like Facebook, Twitter and the blog here.


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CARLOS MARTINS

Born in 1946. Philosophy and Art Studies at the Faculdade de Letras in Lisbon, the years 1975/1976.
After military service and already in Lisbon (1973) he joined the Surrealist Group of Lisbon, which usually met at the Café Monte Carlo. Collaborates in various activities with the group, including the publication of his collages and poems-collages.
In the same year he met Pedro Oom one of the GSL founders who defended a libertarian and surrealist intervention against the regime opposite to an aesthetical positon of surrealist members.
After the fall of the regime in 1974, is dedicated almost exclusively to trade union activity then very monitored and censored by the regime parties, from left and right. This year is elected union leader, but come to resign in 1983/1984 due to disagreements related to party hegemony of the trade union movement in general.
Studies of Ceramics at IADE, in Lisbon.
In 1984 collaborates in creating the art gallery of the Teatro Ibérico there performing and organizing various group and individual exhibitions. That same year organized in collaboration with the Surrealist poet Mario Cesariny, the International exhibition "Surrealism and Painting Fantastic," which included the participation of a significant number of the international surrealist movement members.
After the realization of this important international event, he and Ana Santos (with whom he would marry in 1985), decided to create their own space for the realization of his artistic work, deciding to leave for the Algarvian Northeast where they set up a studio and a small gallery art that would be an art space recognized throughout the Algarve and also in Spain (see Directory art Portugal / Spain, an annual publication edited by both countries).
During this period and given the depopulation and abandonment of the region over the regional political power located on the coast, they faced some difficulties in the field of economicsurvival, having decided to leave the region in 1991.
From 1991 to 2003 they took part and in some cases organized several collective exhibitions under the sponsorship of various cultural and social institutions.
Since 1996, when it appeared the Internet in Portugal, Carlos Martins decided to create an online space for the dissemination of artistic activities in particular in relation to national and international Surrealist movement and its own activities in the creative field. In 2009 finally decided to not participate in national exhibitions in portuguese galleries. However he participated in several international exhibitions dedicated to Surrealism, such as the exhibition "Voyage to Arcturus" (dedicated to Mario Cesariny) in Portalegre, Internacional Exhibition "..." in Lagoa, Algarve, International Exhibition "Reverse the Look" in Coimbra, International Exhibition "chile" and finally Exhibition "...." in Istanbul and other Turkish cities.
Since 2009 C. M. and Ana Santos, they opted for direct sale to private collectors and art lovers around the world, with over 1230 works spread across several continents.
Carlos Martins is also represented at the Museum of Surrealism (Mário Cesariny´s private collection), in Vila Nova de Famalicão (Portugal) and in thousands of private art collections from everywhere and particularly in the United States, Germany, Austria, Canada and Australia.