ADD FUEL is the work of Portuguese artist Diogo Machado.

ADD FUEL is Portuguese visual artist Diogo Machado (b. 1980).
With a degree in Graphic Design from Lisbon's IADE – Creative University, he spent a few years working in design studios in Portugal, followed by an eight-month stint in Munich, Germany. Since 2007, he has been focusing exclusively on his artistic work.
Starting out under the full name Add Fuel to the Fire, he first created a dark yet exuberant visual universe populated by a cast of slimy, eccentric and joyful creatures, influenced by a variety of interests ranging from video games to comics, animation, sci-fi, designer toys, and urban visual culture.
In 2008, fascinated with the aesthetic possibilities of symmetrical patterning and tessellations, he shortened his moniker to Add Fuel and began redirecting his focus towards working with and reinterpreting the language of traditional tile design, and that of the Portuguese tin-glazed ceramic azulejo in particular. Effortlessly blending these two seemingly-irreconcilable visual idioms, his current practice seeks to combine traditional decorative elements with contemporary visual referents into new forms that reveal an impressive complexity and a masterful attention to detail. If, on the face of it, his work in small and medium sized tile panels, large-scale stencil and freehand painted murals, and print editions might seem simply a pastiche of classic formalism, a closer inspection rewards the viewer with a chaotic world of unequivocally original motifs and characters brimming with deep emotions.
Creating balance and harmony from symmetrical repetitions, a build-up of layers and techniques of visual illusion such as trompe-l'œil, his multi-layered patterned compositions produce a poetic rhythm that plays with the viewer's perception and the (multiple) possibilities of interpretation.
Exploring a wide range of both manual and digital techniques in the fields of drawing, painting, ceramics, and printing, his practice expresses a sophisticated dialogue between the old and the new, between heritage and modernity.
Besides the numerous public art interventions he has been creating in various countries, he has also been showcasing his work in solo and group exhibitions in reputed galleries and museums.
Diogo Machado lives and works in Cascais, Portugal.

Group events and exhibitions

• BOOM, Salina, Kansas, USA 2023
• URBAN (R)EVOLUTION, Cordoaria Nacional, Lisboa, Portugal 2023
• BLINK, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 2022
• Lisbonne sur Seine, Paris, France 2022
• Urban Week, Paris, France 2022
• Beyond Walls, Fall River, Massachusetts, USA 2022
• Djerbahood, Djerba, Tunisia 2022
• Wynwood Walls, Miami, Florida, USA 2021
• The Crystal Ship, Ostend, Belgium 2021
• Hidden In Plain Sight, Unit44 Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK 2020
• Papers Please, Colab Gallery, Weil am Rhein, Germany 2020
• Iminente Festival, Lisbon, Portugal 2020
• New Rules, Castanier Gallery, Miami, USA 2020
• FALU Festival, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal 2020
• Conversas na Rua, Amadora, Portugal 2020
• Paint Red Save Lives, Lyon, France 2019
• Klaipeda Public Art Trienal, Klaipeda, Lithuania 2019
• Beyond Walls, Lynn, USA 2019
• Writers Block, Leeuwarden, Netherlands 2019
• Civita Street Fest, Civita, Italy 2019
• Maya Angelou Mural Festival, Los Angeles, USA 2019
• Popeye 90th Anniversary Exhibition, Beijing, China 2019
• Juxtapoz Clubhouse, Miami, USA 2018
• Basel House Mural Festival, Miami, USA 2018
• Crush Walls, Denver’s Urban Art Festival, Denver, USA 2018
• Alter Ego, Macau, China 2018
• Tanto Mar. Fluxos Transatlânticos do Design, MUDE Museum, Lisbon, Portugal 2018
• Revolutions Per Minute, Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom 2017
• Hand Luggage Only, Nuart Gallery, Stavanger, Norway 2017
• Nuart Aberdeen Festival, Aberdeen, United Kingdom 2017
• A Better View, ABV Gallery, Atlanta, USA 2017
• Post Street Art, Tou Scene, Stavanger, Norway 2016
• Nuart Festival, Stavanger, Norway 2016
• Sacramento Mural Fest, Sacramento, USA 2016
• Festival Muraliza, Cascais, Portugal 2016
• Muros Tabacalera, Madrid, Spain 2016
• Festival Muro, Lisbon, Portugal 2016
• PUBLIC’16, Perth, Australia 2016
• 352walls, Gainesville, USA 2016
• Rough Cast, Colab Gallery, Weil am Rhein, Germany 2015
• Forgotten Project, Rome, Italy 2015
• Festival Muraliza, Cascais, Portugal 2015
• Urban Now, Metamorfose Gallery, Porto, Portugal 2015
• SOMA, Underdogs Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal 2014
• Djerbahood, Djerba, Tunisia 2014
• Mar Motto, Montana Gallery Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal 2014
• WOOL on residence, Covilhã, Portugal 2014
• Festival Muraliza, Cascais, Portugal 2014
• ARTURb Residency, LAC, Lagos, Portugal 2013
• Fusing Festival, Figueira da Foz, Portugal 2013
• Le M.U.R., Mulhouse, France 2013
• Tour Paris 13, Paris, France 2013
• Urban Art LX, Influx Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal 2012
• LA Artwalk, The Medallion, Los Angeles, USA 2011
• Push Click, Montana Gallery Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal 2011
• Burnt, Together Gallery, Portland, USA 2010
• Sleight of Hand, Recoat Gallery, Glasgow, United Kingdom 2010
• Red Bull Street Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal 2007
• MadTurnip’s Madgic Trexi Custom Toy Design, Paris, France 2006