Portuguese artist, born in Lisbon. He studied painting and architecture at the Lisbon School of Fine Arts (ESBAL). At the beginning of his art career, in the 70's, he was associated with conceptualism, his work showed very personal and erotic figuration. By then the metaphors were incarnated through animals. He used different kinds of artistic expression: painting, photography, film (Legs, Faces, Shadows), installations and video. From the 80's, he embraced the "return to painting" making this the centre of his activity. The work composed of different fragments was, for a long period, one of his characteristics. Solo exhibitions (selection) 1977 Don Juan, Gal. Módulo, Oporto; 1979 Reading Pieces, 1982 Drawings, e 1984 Arbeiten auf Papier, 1988, Gal. Erika + Otto Friedrich Berna, Suiça; 1980 Gal. Diferença, Lisboa; 1983 Gal. Quadrum; 1984 Gal. Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid, 1984, 85, 89 Gal. Cómicos, Lisbon; 1986, 90, 94 Gal. Bernd Klüser, München, 1987 Gal. Marga Paz, Madrid, 1991 Gal. Montenay, Paris, Louver Gallery, Nova Iorque, Fund. de Serralves, 1993 CAM F.C.Gulbenkian, Guggenheim Collection, Veneza; 1994 Centre des Arts Saidye Bronfman, Montréal, Québec, Ivam, València, Ruth Bloom Gallery, Santa Monica, EUA, 1995 Witte de With, Roterdão, Gal. Pedro Oliveira, Porto, 1996 Sean Kelly, Nova Iorque, van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. Group exhibitions (selections) 1976 Gal. Labirynt, Lublin, Poland, 1977 Alternativa Zero, Lisboa, Museo Vostell Malpartida, SACOM 2, 1980 XI Biennale de Paris, 1980 Venice Biennale, Magazzini del Sale, Venice, 1981 Portuguese Video Art, Gallery of New Concepts, University of Iowa, 1982 "documenta 7", Kassel, 1983 La Imagen del Animal, Palacio de las Alhajas, Madrid, Depois do Modernismo, SNBA, Lisboa, 1987 "documenta 8", Kassel, 1992 Arte Amazonas, Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, 1994 CGAC, Santiago de Compostela, 1997 En la Piel de Toro, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid. Julião Sarmento has represented Portugal in Venice Biennale 1997.