Rodrigo Andrade

Since the 1980s when he was part of Casa 7, a group of painters in São Paulo influenced by the expressionism of Phillip Guston and Anselm Kiefer, Rodrigo Andrade has harnessed the expressive qualities of paint. During his formative years, he attended the studio of Sergio Fingermann. Equally influenced by German Neo-expressionism, his initial paintings were large format with expressive brush strokes and strong colors. Ranging from figurative and abstract phases until the mid-1990s, his practice has undergone significant changes since 1999, at which time he began creating works in which thick oil paint is applied to the screen in pairs or quartets of simple geometric shapes. Often these paintings establish a dialogue with the places where it operates, such as snacks Alvorada (2001), where the ink plates were applied directly on the walls of a bar in São Paulo.

Late in his career, another major change occurred in his work, figuration reappearing in the night Matter series presented at the 29th Bienal de São Paulo. Here, the artist painted photographic images, but still applied thick layers of paint resulting in works that are between the illusion of photographic image and the actual presence of the surface.

Since 1986, Andrade has had several solo exhibitions in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte including at Centro Universitário Maria Antonia and Galeria Millan, both in São Paulo. In 2010, Andrade participated in the 29th Bienal de São Paulo. In 2004, he received the scholarship Vitae of Fine Arts.

Courtesy of Carbono Galeria