Artur Varela was born in Almodôvar, Portuga. Studied sculpture in Lisbon, spent some time in Paris (Atelier Adam), and lived for two decades in the Nederlands before returning to Portugal in the final years of the 1980s. During this ‘circumnavigation,’ he explored not only metal and wood sculpture, but also painting, drawing, comic strips and video. After some experiences with super 8 film, in the early 1970s, Varela went back to video, using a very high tech video camera and simple antiquated methods, making the most of it. Departing from the animation of images and static forms, and using the codes of comic strip production, Arthur Van der Hella creates hilarious narratives about central figures and themes of our daily lives (from Fátima to Berlusconi, from Salazar to Opel Meriva Fun). Varela participated in the exhibition "Alternativa Zero" (1977) memorialized in 1997 at Fundação de Serralves.
