Cao Guimarães

Cao Guimarães’ work derives from an expanded approach towards cinema, initiated during an inceptive moment in video art in Brazil. The artist transitions from the super-8 film into video, creating connections with visual arts while using cinematic language. His imagery creates an inventory of distinct and perhaps visually intriguing moments of everyday life, such as ants carrying confetti after Carnival, or soap bubbles floating along the corridors of an empty house.

Always seeking to document the ordinary, the artists seeks to find poetry in places where it wouldn’t be immediately recognisable. Cao Guimarães also experiments with photography, notably in his series titled ‘Gambiarras’, where his work focuses on the makeshift culture of creatively shifting the function of objects while solving problems of everyday life.

Despite the static nature of photography, the seriality in Guimarães’ works allows for a sense of sequence and juxtaposition of still images that mirror narrative aspects of a film. Guimarães’ films have been exhibited in several festivals such as the Berlin International Film Festival (2014), the Sundance Film Festival (2007), the Cannes Film Festival (2005) and the Rotterdam International Film Festival (2005, 2007 e 2008), amongst others.

The artist was born in Belo Horizonte, in 1965, where he lives and works. Some of his latest solo shows included: Ver é uma fábula, at Centro Dragão do Mar de Arte e Cultura (CDMAC) (2018), in Fortaleza, Brazil, at Instituto Itaú Cultural (2013), in São Paulo, Brazil, and also at Galerie Anita Beckers (2013), in Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Después, at Galerie Xippas (2016), in Punta del Este, Uruguay; Estética da gambiarra, at Sesc Interlagos (2015), in São Paulo, Brazil. Recent group shows include: 7th Contemporary Art Bienalle, Spain (2018); 34th, 32th and 27th Panorama da Arte Brasileira, Brazil (2015, 2011 e 2001); Art and Space, at Guggenheim Bilbao Museum (2017), in Bilbao, Spain; Video Art in Latin America, II Pacific Standart Time: LA/LA (PST: LA/LA), at LAXART (2017), in Hollywood, USA; From the Margin to the Edge: Brazilian Art and Design in the 21st Century, at Somerset House (2012), in London, UK.

His works are included in major public collections such as those of: Fondation Cartier Pour L’art Contemporain, Paris, France; Tate Modern, London, UK; Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Museum of Moderm Art (MoMA), New York, USA.

Last update 22nd October 2020