By: Suanny Hossi
He began his profession as a painter, since he was a child, he emigrated to Europe, Portugal in the city of Lisbon, where he trained for a year as a portrait artist.
The artist transforms photographs into works of art on the streets of Luanda, focusing on the city’s downtown.
João explained to Notícias de Angola that he worked for some time in Lisbon, Portugal, on Rua Agusta where he spent his days from Monday to Friday.
In Angola, he has worked in downtown Lunda for six years, where he manages to earn a living and support his family.
As for billing, Ferreira says it depends on the days. There is no exact value, the price varies according to the size of the painting. For smaller ones, he charges between nine and ten thousand kwanzas per portrait.
On the other hand, the portrait artist made it known that for his work his main instruments are the charcoal pencil that he uses on paper. But over time, if there is any space, I will need a lot of things like oil paint, paper, a lot of things, the small space allows him to paint on average two to three portraits a day” highlights the artist.
He painted several national and international figures such as presenter Lukenya Gomes, and singers Pérola and Yola Semedo, Machael Jackson, Portuguese journalist Catarina Furtado, and Luís Filipe Vieira, president of Benfica in Lisbon.
With more or less 36 painted works, many of them in Portugal, where it was easy to acquire material and time to work. In Angola, it has been difficult to work.
The artist is on the street, in a cramped space, where he spends his time taking some portraits from Monday to Friday in downtown Luanda, in front of the Message Pastry Shop.
Regarding his biggest dream, João Ferreira expressed “I have many dreams, I have a very broad vision, my day-to-day dream is the dream of many Angolans, of having a studio where I can work even in the rain and I can teaching people who are always asking to give them training, this is my dream” laughs.
At the end of our article João Ferreira, who is commonly known as a portrait artist from downtown Luanda, leaves a message saying the following “The message I leave is very important, for example, every day people who ask me here to teach, say that Guys, you have to wait until I have a space to teach, my contact for work is 935694750”
João Ferreira is from the Province of Uije and completed a year’s training as a portrait artist in Lisbon.