Tiago Mestre
My work is concerned with the idea of displacement, both in terms of discipline and territory. Originally trained as an architect, my sculptures and installations reflect my status as a portuguese artist living and working in Brazil and the historical associations of human and artistic flows between the two countries. The work actively resists a singular reading and engages with different symbolic and anthropological registers through a critical approach to materiality, elaboration and modes of presentation. Ceramics as sculpture appears in my work with this aim of displacement, causing a process of redefinition and reframing of its mediums.
Using materials such as clay, bronze, plaster and paint, my work establishes a constant negotiation between project and unpredictability, between program and expressive freedom. My paintings and sculptures share technical procedures (on production) and modes of display (on reception), presenting themselves more as questioning systems than as fixed genres or statutes. Regarding my recent body of work, I would emphasize a growing capacity to critically relate to the achievements of the project of modernity, its controversial key figures and its artistic myths and narratives of originality, development and social organization.
Tiago Mestre (Portugal, 1978)
Lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil
Academic training
2013 | 2016 – Master degree in Architecture, FAU/USP- University of São Paulo, Brazil
2009 | 2010 – Advanced Course in Painting from Ar.co, Lisbon, Portugal
2008 | 2009 – Independent Study Programme – Maumaus, Lisbon, Portugal
1996 | 2001 – Graduation in Architecture, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal
Solo shows
2021 – “Grotta”, SESC Pompeia, São Paulo, Brazil (scheduled)
2020 – “Boa tarde às coisas aqui em baixo” with Dudi Maia Rosa, São Paulo, Brazil
2019 – “Smog”, Espaço Cultural Porto Seguro, São Paulo, Brazil
2019 – “Tiger, tiger”, Festival de Cultura Inglesa, São Paulo, Brazil
2019 – “Smoke gets in your eyes” (curated by Kiki Mazzucchelli)– Kupfer Projects, London, UK
2018 – “More news from nowhere” (text of Jacopo Crivelli Visconti), Colégio das Artes de Coimbra, Portugal
2017 – “Noite. Inextinguível, inexprimível noite.” (text of Kiki Mazzucchelli), Galeria Millan, São Paulo, Brazil
2016 – “Foundation” (curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti), Paço das Artes, São Paulo, Brazil
2016 – ”La Californie” (curated by Bruno Mendonça), Centro Cultural São Paulo, Brazil
2015 – “Asa Nisi Masa”, Galeria Central, São Paulo, Brazil
2014 – “All the Things You Are” (curated by Marina Coelho), Kunsthalle São Paulo, Brazil
2013 – “Speech” (curated by Paulo Miyada), Galeria Virgílio, São Paulo, Brazil
2012 – “Secret Life of Materials” (curated by Fernando Oliva), Centro Cultural Sérgio Porto, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil (Internationalization Support Program – Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation)
2009 – “Specific Sunset“, Wiels Residency Projects, Brussels, Belgium
2004 – “Tiago Mestre – painting and drawing”, Museu Jorge Vieira, Beja, Portugal
Group shows
2019 – “Barefoot”(curated by Tonico Lemos Auad, Large Glass, London, England
2019 – “EveryThing Must Go”, Assembly Point, London, England
2019 – “Smog”- Kubikulo Project, Kubik Gallery, Oporto, Portugal
2019 – “Open Studio”, Gasworks, London, England
2018 – 13º leilão Anima, Galeria Luisa Strina – blombô, São Paulo, Brazil
2018 – “Unidos da Barra Funda”, Casa Barra Funda, São Paulo, Brazil
2018 – “Jardim das delícias. Juízo final”, Galeria Cavalo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2017 – “So different, so attractive”, (curated by Paul Miyada), Galeria Carbono, São Paulo, Brazil
2016 – “Completely something else”, (curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti), Point Centre for Contemporary Art, Nicosia, Chipre
2016 – “Raid_8”, (curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti), Galeria Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, Brazil
2016 – “Leilão de parede”, PIVÔ – Arte e Pesquisa, São Paulo, Brazil
2016 – “Open Studio”, PIVÔ – Arte e Pesquisa, São Paulo, Brazil
2015 – “Festival Arte Atual – Coisas sem Nomes”, (curated by Paulo Miyada), Inst. Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil
2011 – “Escape”, (curated by Jürgen Bock), Lund’s Konsthall, Sweeden
2009 – “Liquid archives”, (curated by Anna Schneider), Platform3, Munich, Germany
2009 – XV Bienal de Cerveira, Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal
Publications in Visual Arts
– Ânima (visual essay), Wrongwrong online magazine, (2018)
– “Raid_8”, exhibition catalog, Galeria Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, (2016)
– “All the Things You Are”, artist book, Kunsthalle São Paulo, (2014)
– “Estado de Atenção”, exhibition catalog, Casa da Cerca, Almada, Portugal (2010)
– “Mandei-o matar porque não havia razão”, exhibition catalog, Editora Fenda, Lisboa, (2010)
– “Liquid Archives”, exhibition catalog, Platform3, Munich, (2009)
Artist Residency Programs and Grants
– Gasworks, London, (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation grant), (2019)
– Troy Town Pottery, London (2019)
– PIVÔ – Art and Research, São Paulo, Brazil (2016)
– FAAP – Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado, São Paulo, Brazil (2010)
– Metropolis Alliance | WIELS Residency, Brussels (2009)
– INOV – Art, “Arte – Cidade”, São Paulo, Brazil, (DGartes grant) (2010)