“Red Bull Portugal proposed the challenge to make 15 artworks, one for each pilot in the Red Bull Air Race.
As a result, this 15 framed canvas, each inspired individually in the pilots background, interests and team colors. Each is signed in the back and has a text about the Portuguese Azulejo tile.
In Portugal, the Azulejo tile is more than a mere decorative element of little intrinsic value.
It has been an important medium for Portuguese artistic expression for more than five centuries. This conventional material is used both for its low cost as well as for its effective abilities of aesthetically qualifying a building in a practical way. With its strong scenographic, descriptive and monumental qualities, the Azulejo tile is nowadays considered one of the most original products of Portuguese culture, which reveals not only the history, but also the mentality and the aesthetics of each era.
Diogo Machado (a.k.a. add fuel to the fire) is a Portuguese artist related to the new Pop culture who draws inspiration from the quotidian, from life itself and from the urban environment. Urban culture and life in society have always had a strong influence on his work. Due to his roots, he has always been in touch and familiar with the standardisation of patterns produced by the murals of Azulejo tiles.
History is once again retold, this time inserted in the “add fuel to the fire” universe, where the Azulejo tile is turned into a mass of colour, of detail, of pilots and aeroplanes: patterns individually designed for each of the pilots of the Red Bull Air Race 09 \ Porto. Red Bull Portugal proposed the challenge to make 15 artworks, one for each pilot in the Red Bull Air Race.
As a result, this 15 framed canvas, each inspired individually in the pilots background, interests and team colors. Each is signed in the back and has a text about the Portuguese Azulejo tile.
Thanks to the nice people from Red Bull for once again, the opportunity to produce another great work.”