Rosângela Rennó

Rosângela Rennó is a Brazilian visual artist whose work in installations, objects, books, and photographs centers on aesthetic theory and the appropriation of images. Rennó often references anonymity as a politicizing tool, and she prefers to use found photographs in her compositions because she considers them to be particularly condusive to ascribing new meaning. Since 2008, Rennó’s work has been concerned with documenting historical photography collections, which she preserves in book form. Her 2013 book A01 [COD.19.1.1.43] - A27 [S | COD.23] was awarded the Aperture/Paris Photo Award and the Prix du livre historique in Arles.


Born in 1962 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Rennó studied architecture at the Federal University of Minas Gerais and visual arts at the Escola Guignard, both in her hometown; she later earned a doctorate from the School of Communications and Arts at the University of São Paulo. Rennó's work has been shown in major solo exhibitions at The Appel Foundation in Amsterdam, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney’s Australian Centre for Photography, São Paulo’s Instituto Tomie Ohtake, and Belo Horizonte’s Museu de Arte da Pampulha, among others. She lives and works in Rio de Janeiro.