The Council of Lagos approved a vote of regret for the death, on 15 January, of Jorge Mealha, sculptor, ceramist and plastic artist who was notable for his work in stoneware paste, but also for the interior decoration and tile work.
The municipality regrets, in a note sent to the press, "this loss" of someone who was an icon of Lagos.
In the vote of regret, it can be read that, for the City Council, Jorge Mealha's departure «leaves the culture and the artistic panorama poorer», but his work, characterized by «unique forms and very simple» and «a very unique universe , populated by animals, human figures, caravels, vases, columns, will continue to walk alongside us and their example will certainly be a source of inspiration for all those who find in art a form of expression, intervention and realization».
Jorge Augusto Mealha da Costa, better known only as Jorge Mealha, was born in 1934 in the city of Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), where he lived and worked until 1974, where he dedicated himself to ceramics, sculpture and interior decoration.
Since 1964, he has participated in individual and collective exhibitions, inside and outside the country, developing works and interventions integrated in very wide-ranging architecture and urbanism projects, namely public spaces, hotels, banks, private residences, airport facilities and manufacturing facilities, among others .
In his artistic training, he contacted and learned from the great masters, such as the painter António Quadros (at the Art Center of Loureço Marques) and Querubim Lapa (in Lisbon).
In 1975 he came to live in the Algarve, shortly afterwards adopting Lagos as a safe haven, where he settled and lived for more than four decades.
It was in the city of Lacobrigens that he made a large part of his artistic career, dedicating himself exclusively to sculpture/ceramics.
In Lagos, it is possible to see pieces of his authorship, such as the stone pattern commemorating the 10th of June (inaugurated in 1996, during the official commemorations held here), the tile panel covering the access to the Marina pedestrian bridge and, also, in the coating in Portuguese sidewalk of several public sidewalks in the city. His work is also represented in the art collections of numerous public and private institutions.
At Casa dos Oleiros, which until a few days ago was his family residence, work studio and exhibition space, the works of Jorge Mealha are present in every corner.
Miriam Tavares, researcher who in 2010 curated the exhibition “Jorge Mealha – 1960/2010 – Reinventing an Art”, then on display at the Centro Cultural de Lagos as part of the Allgarve programme, described Mealha as “an African artist who was born in Mozambique in 1934, but (…) he is not (just) an African artist».
According to the academic, Jorge Mealha had a "quite long" course, with "influences also coming from Europe".
Jorge Mealha «experienced painting, drawing, traditional sculpture and batik, but his real encounter with art happened through António Quadros and a lathe. (…) The artist's encounter with ceramics was more than a fortuitous encounter. A passion for the rest of his life was born, which made him travel several paths to deepen his knowledge and his ability to constantly reinvent technique and create his art», he adds.
An easy-going person, the Câmara de Lagos remembers how «Jorge Mealha was the holder of enormous talent, creativity and sensitivity, and, in the same measure, of simplicity and humility, traits that characterize the great names and make them references for others» .
Moreover, in 2019 the Municipality had already recognized the talent, career and work of this artist, resident in Lagos, by awarding him, on Municipality Day, the Municipal Medal of Merit – Silver Degree.
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