Over the last twenty years, João Maria Gusmão (Lisbon, 1979) has developed an enigmatic and complex set of practices and meta-practices ranging from experimental film to photography, encompassing sculpture and drawing, and extending to literature, exhibition curating and publishing. Gusmão’s research stands at the crossroads between a metaphysical reflection on the aesthetics of photography and early cinema, a conceptual examination of the analogue medium, the revival of certain Modernist experiments within literature and particular currents in contemporary philosophy (transcendental materialism and speculative realism). Hinging on a “mental experience” of time/image, his work attempts to stimulate a remote awareness in the observer both in discursive terms, reflecting on the conditions of visibility and phenomenological experience, questioning our modes of existence and the representation of the world.
Some of the artist’s recent solo shows include MARÉ-BAIXA!, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, Brazil (2026); Following the White Tiger, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (2026); All Them Swines, Escola das Artes da Universidade Católica do Porto, Porto, Portugal (2025); Animal Farm, 99canal, Nova York, USA (2024); 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 shows Soft Ground, Casa da Cultura da Comporta, Comporta, Portugal (2026); Blinded by the Light, Casa da Cultura Comporta, Comporta, Portugal (2025); Antropoceno: Em busca de um novo humano?, MACAM – Museu de Arte Contemporânea Armando Martins, Lisbon, Portugal (2025); Nunca só essa mente, nunca só esse mundo, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel | Carpintaria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2023); 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 Tate Modern, London, UK; SFMOMA – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA; FRAC — Fonds regional d’art contemporain d’Île-de-France, Île-de-France, France; Serralves Foundations, Porto, Portugal; Mudam – Museé d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxemburg; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, León, Spain; Instituto Inhotim, Minas Gerais, Brazil; MNAC – Museu Nacional do Chiado, Lisbon, Portugal; Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bergamo, Italy; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA and Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal.