Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1974.
Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Joana Cesar was born in Rio de Janeiro, where she lives and works. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Journalism and Cinema; meanwhile she completed several art courses at the School of Visual Arts Parque Lage. In 2003, her studio developments ultimately led her to the city streets, where walls, sidewalks, lamp posts and elevated highways served as the canvas for the artist’s personal childhood coded writing.
In 2011, she took part in the group show “Atemporal” [“Timeless”] at Espaço Atemporal; and “Conexão” [“Connection”] at the art gallery Jaime Portas Vilaseca, both held in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Still in 2011, an extensive article was published in magazine ‘Piauí’, addressing the history and unfoldings of the Joana’s coded writing. In 2012, she was selected to attend the Qualification Program of the School of Visual Arts Parque Lage. She was featured in the show “Gramáticaurbana” [“Urban Grammar”], curated by Vanda Klabin, at the Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica, and opened the exhibition “Fugalenta” [“Slow Escaping’], her first solo show, at the Art Gallery Athena Contemporânea, also in the city of Rio de Janeiro. She was also invited to participate in the 2nd World Creativity Biennial Exhibition, in Rio de Janeiro, and made a grandiose intervention on the support beams of Perimetral Bridge Highway. In the same year, Joana was invited to give an interview about her work to PIPA Prize website.
In 2013, she was featured in the “3rd Exhibition of the Qualification Course,” at the School of Visual Arts Parque Lage, and joined the project “Ocupa-se” [“Occupy”], at the Art Gallery Athena Contemporânea, with the installation art “Voragem”.
In 2015, her solo show “Nome” [“Name”] was launched under the curatorship of Ivair Reinaldim, and she took part in the group show “Da Escrita Delas, Elas” [“Her, On the Writing of Hers”], at the Museum of the Republic, curated by Isabel Portella.