(this page was last updated in June 2019)
Rio de Janeiro, RJ,
Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, RJ.
Represented by A Gentil Carioca.
PIPA Prize 2019 nominee.
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1990, Maxwell Alexandre graduated in Design from PUC-RJ in 2016 and, in 2009, participated in the ‘Curso de Fotografia para registros das Obras do PAC’ (Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento) making photographic records of the Rio de Janeiro favelas. The artist’s urban poetics consists in the construction of narratives and scenes structured from his daily experiences in the city and in Rocinha, the community where he lives and works. On different supports like doors and iron frames emerge anonymous personages in recurrent situations in the favelas. They are large-format paintings in which the black bodies are presented in an empowered way, but also in moments of confrontation with the police, portraying a radically contemporary community routine.
Video produced by Do Rio Filmes, exclusively for PIPA Prize 2019:
In 2019 he held his first international solo exhibition at MAC Lyon – Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon, France, and was announced as the winner of the São Sebastião de Cultura 2018 award from the Associação Cultural da Arquidiocese do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2018 he participated in an artistic residency at the Delfina Foundation in London, as well as in the collective exhibitions ‘Recortes da Arte Brasileira’ at Berlin Art Berlin Fair, ‘Crônicas urgentes’ at Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel gallery, São Paulo, and ‘Histórias Afro-Atlânticas’ at MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo. Still in 2018 held the solo exhibition ‘O Batismo de Maxwell Alexandre’ and participated in the collective exhibition ‘Abre Alas 14’, both in the gallery A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro. In 2017 participated in the collective exhibition ‘Carpintaria para todos’ at Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, and also held the solo ‘Laje só existe com gente’ at Rocinha Surfe Escola, Complexo Esportivo da Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro. His works integrates important collections such as: Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Brazil; MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil, and MAR – Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Education
2017
Design, Graduação, Departamento de Artes & Design, PUC-RJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Solo exhibitions
2019
– ‘Pardo é Papel’, MAC Lyon, Lyon, France
2018
– ‘O Batismo de Maxwell Alexandre’, A Gentil Carioca gallery, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2017
– ‘Pardo é Papel’, Complexo Esportivo da Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
– ‘Laje só existe com gente’, Escola Surfe – Complexo Esportivo da Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2016
– ‘Universo Clandestino’, Escola Surfe – Complexo Esportivo da Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2015
– ‘Exposição Cínica’, PUC-Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Group exhibitions
2018
– ‘Recortes da Arte Brasileira’, Art Berlin Fair, Berlin, Germany
– ‘Crônicas Urgentes’, galeria Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, Brazil
– ‘Histórias Afro-Atlânticas’, MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
2017
– ‘Carpintaria para todos’, galeria Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, Brazil
2016
– ‘Desenho como matriz fotográfica’, Studio Line, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
– ‘Descamada’, Fábrica Bhering, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Residencies
2019
– Lyon Contemporary Art Museum, Lyon, France
2018
– Delfina Foundation, London, UK
Collections
– Pinacoteca de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
– MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
– MAR – Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
