Miguel Barros creates art that asks us to reconsider our connection with the world around us. Born in Lisbon in 1962, he holds citizenship in Portugal, Canada, and Angola, each shaping his perspective in distinct ways. In 2014, he relocated from Angola to Calgary, Alberta, a move that brought fresh inspiration to his work. Trained in Architecture and Design at IADE Lisbon, where he earned his degree in 1984, Barros combines technical precision with artistic expression, weaving together structured forms and fluid imagination.
His work is deeply personal yet globally relevant. Themes of environmental responsibility and cultural memory are central to his practice. The oceans, fragile and vast, are a recurring subject. Plastic Oceans stands out as a call to awareness, urging viewers to confront the reality of pollution and human impact. His paintings are not just reflections—they are conversations about responsibility, memory, and the world we leave behind.
Walking Through a Dream
Barros’ latest works, The Fantasy of a Dream I and The Fantasy of a Dream II, are deeply rooted in memory and experience. Painted in Calgary in 2025, these pieces are not just representations of place but explorations of how cities live within us long after we leave them.
Both paintings, 100cm x 100cm each, are created using oil and mixed media on recycled PVC banners. His decision to use repurposed materials is deliberate. Barros sees art as a space for both creation and responsibility—waste transformed into something lasting. The banners, worn and weathered, add texture and history, reinforcing the idea that every city carries the weight of its past.
He describes his process as drifting into a dream, a journey through familiar streets and hidden alleyways. His paintings capture the essence of places he once knew—Lisbon, Luanda, perhaps even fragments of Calgary—distorted by time and emotion. These are not static cityscapes; they breathe, shift, and change with each viewing.
Layers of Memory and Space
In The Fantasy of a Dream I, Barros constructs a layered urban maze. Buildings emerge and dissolve, geometric forms overlap, and a sense of depth suggests movement. The streets are neither entirely real nor completely imagined. The color palette—deep blues, earth tones, and flashes of gold—evokes the way city lights dance on old surfaces. Walking through this work feels like stepping into a memory, where details are both sharp and elusive.
The Fantasy of a Dream II offers a different tone. Here, the city feels quieter, softened by time. Architectural forms blur at the edges, as though seen through fog or remembered in fragments. The textures are heavier, the paint layered thickly in places, suggesting structures that have endured and eroded. The city in this painting is not just a place—it is a feeling, a moment held between past and present.
Balancing Reality and Abstraction
Barros’ background in architecture shapes how he constructs his paintings. These cities are not meant to be exact—they shift, break apart, and rebuild themselves. Perspective is altered, lines are stretched, and depth is exaggerated. His work does not aim to replicate a place but to capture its presence.
There is an unmistakable dreamlike quality in his approach. The streets he paints exist in both the physical and the imagined world. They are shaped by history, but also by the way we remember them. These are cities seen through time—alive, moving, constantly redefined by those who walk them.
Using oil and mixed media on PVC adds another layer to this narrative. The combination of traditional paint with industrial material mimics the way history and progress coexist in any urban landscape. Old structures stand alongside new ones, just as old memories persist beneath fresh experiences.
Time, Place, and Transformation
The Fantasy of a Dream is not simply a nostalgic look back—it is an exploration of how we carry places within us. Barros invites viewers to step into these shifting cityscapes, to navigate their streets and feel the echoes of stories hidden within them.
Yet, his use of recycled materials reminds us that his work is also about looking ahead. Memory and imagination are only part of the equation. Sustainability, transformation, and the future are equally important. These paintings are not just about what was, but about what comes next.
Barros’ art continues to evolve, yet his central focus remains clear. He builds bridges—between past and present, between architecture and painting, between what is real and what is remembered. The Fantasy of a Dream is just one stop on that journey.
