For the last two decades, João Maria Gusmão has developed, in collaboration with Pedro Paiva, a complex and enigmatic set of practices ranging from experimental cinema to sculpture, photography, literature, curatorship and artist’s editions. His most notable work takes the form of immersive installations of several analog 16mm projections. His visual vocabulary gathers the repertoires of contemporary literature and philosophy. His bronze sculptures, on the other hand, use schematic, simplified foundations to create figures. The artist models the molds, not the pieces themselves, a resource that allows random possibilities.
Some of the artist’s recent solo shows include Lusque-Fusque Arrebol, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisboa, Portugal (2022) and Variations — Eugène Frey’s Light Set Projections, Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, Monaco (2021). He also participated in the group show O Canto do Bode, Casa da Cultura de Comporta, Comporta, Portugal (2021).
The artist’s work has been included in important public collections, such as Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal; FRAC – Fonds regional d’art contemporain d’Île-de-France, Île-de-France, France; Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bergamo, Italy; Instituto Inhotim, Brumadinho, Brazil; MNAC – Museu Nacional do Chiado, Lisbon, Portugal; Mudam – Museé d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg; Museo de Arte Contemporáneio de Castilla y León, León, Spain; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA; Serralves, Porto, Portugal; SFMOMA – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA and Tate Modern, London, UK.
