Add Fuel's approach offers a fresh perspective on the fusion of tradition and innovation, inviting audiences to delve into a world where simplicity converges with complexity, and where every square harbours a story waiting to be unearthed
Diogo Machado is a Portuguese visual artist, who lives and works in Cascais, Portugal. Starting out under the moniker Add Fuel to the Fire, Diogo drew inspiration from sci-fi, video games, comics and urban visual culture to create a distinctive visual universe populated by uniquely eccentric creatures. In 2008, he shortened his moniker to Add Fuel and began to focus his work on tile design, reinterpreting classic Portuguese azulejo tile design.
Diogo builds layered compositions, exploring the aesthetic possibilities of symmetrical repetitions, that upon closer inspection are filled with original motifs and characters brimming with emotion. Spanning across drawing, painting, printing, murals and ceramics, his work effortlessly blends the language of traditional tile design with contemporary visual referents to prompt a dialogue between the classic and the contemporary.
His exhibition ‘Simply Squares’ encapsulates a profound reverence for tradition, seamlessly intertwined with a sensitivity to contemporary urban landscapes. In this exhibition, Machado aims to take viewers on a captivating journey through the intricate interplay of geometric shapes and patterns, each square serving as a microcosm of artistic expression. This approach offers a fresh perspective on the fusion of tradition and innovation, inviting audiences to delve into a world where simplicity converges with complexity, and where every square harbours a story waiting to be unearthed.