André Rios is a Portuguese artist currently living in the Netherlands, who creates such sharp and vivid artworks, it’s almost hard to believe they’re pastels. From wildlife and botanicals to candy wrappers and tubes of paint, Rios’ hyperrealistic pastels are impressive to behold.
Silence, pastel, 27 ½ x 19 ½ in.
“Much of my work has grown from a need to understand how we perceive reality and experience ourselves in an increasingly digital world. My in|square series was as a response to that. Pixelated, fragmented portraits that reflect how technology reshapes identity, memory, and even the way we see one another,” says the artist. This series takes those highly realistic images the artist is known for, and then distorts them. “Those works allowed me to express disconnection, distortion and the space between reality and its digital echo.” Take a look at works like Logout and Silence as examples of this.
Logout, pastel, 39 1⁄3 x 27 ½ in.
Over time, he felt the pull in the opposite direction, toward the physical, tangible world. “That led me to my current ongoing series of minimalist hyperrealistic drawings, where simple compositions of isolated objects become an opportunity to slow down and reconnect with the clarity of our physical world,” Rios says. “Moving from fragmentation to stillness has been a personal transition—a need to return to simplicity and to look at the world with more honesty and attention.”
Red Crab, pastel, 7 ¾ x 7 ¾ in.
Recent works by the artist include Red Crab, a portrait of a brightly colored crab against a black backdrop, and Stillness&Distortion, depicting a piece of crumpled aluminum foil with a praying mantis resting on it. “The mantis embodies focus, patience and inner clarity, while the foil’s sharp, shifting reflections evoke the distortion and restlessness of modern life,” Rios reflects. “Together they create a dialogue between order and disorder, showing that true calm is not found by escaping chaos but by remaining centered within it—a meditation on balance, awareness and the coexistence of stillness and movement.” This artwork is part of his current series of large-scale hyperrealistic drawings.
Stillness&Distortion, pastel, 27 ½ x 39 1⁄3 in.
Red Crab is part of a series of small pieces exploring wildlife through a realistic and cinematic approach. “I aimed to capture the tactile quality of the textures and the way light moves across the surfaces,” says Rios. “The piece reflects my interest in transforming a fleeting natural scene into something both intimate and monumental. A quiet encounter that lingers beyond observation.” —
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