O Gringo

O Gringo is the artist name of Bastien Tomasini, born in Nice in 1988 and now based in Portugal. His work hijacks the visual codes of the azulejo, the blue-and-white ceramic tile emblematic of Lisbon, to build contemporary portraits: photographs are reworked digitally then printed straight onto Portuguese tiles before being installed in the street. The panels, often crossed by a gesture of black ink, blend traditional floral patterning with a photographic gaze. In 2022 he presented the solo show Esperança Além do Horizonte at the National Tile Museum in Lisbon, built around fado and the wait for a lover's return.