Caldas, John Alvaro

John Alvaro Caldas was born in 1934 in Rusholme, Manchester, England.
Before fully pursuing art, he had a varied early career: he worked as a West End dancer and later as a jazz musician, performing with the John Caldas Quartet.
In the late 1960s he turned to visual art, renewing a childhood interest in painting and drawing. Over more than three decades he produced an impressive body of paintings and drawings working from his home in North London.
His art often addressed human experience: isolation, emotional struggle, structures of society (such as churches or factories), and glimpses of hope and redemption.

Although not extremely widely known in the commercial art marketplace during his lifetime, Caldas committed himself to his vision rather than to market positioning.
His commitment over decades and his unique path from performer to painter make his life and work interesting in the context of British post war and contemporary art.
John Alvaro Caldas passed away in 2006.