TIAGO MESTRE

Works and lives in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

In 2001, he graduated from the Architecture program at the Lisbon School of Architecture. In2008, he integrated the MAUMAUS Independent Visual Art Studies Program and, in 2009, the Ar.coAdvanced Course in Painting (Lisbon, Portugal). In 2016, he held a Master’s degree in Architecturefrom the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo – FAU-USP.

Living in São Paulo for about twelve years, he developed his work between painting, sculpture,and installation, mediums through which he explores his initial training in architecture incorporatedinto the languages of contemporary art. Complementary to his training, he has held residencies inBrazilian and international institutions, such as Gasworks, with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundationscholarship (London, 2019), Kaaysá – Art Residency (Boiçucanga, 2018), and PIVÔ-Arte e Pesquisa(São Paulo, 2016).

In 2014, he conducted the project All the things you are, presented at the Kunsthalle SãoPaulo. For 21 days, he frequented the exhibition space and built successive sculptures from the samematerial – clay – in a process shared in real time with the public. His poetics is underlined by theediting of the work in the presentation spaces, which often take on the contours of his studiopractice. Using materials such as clay, bronze, plaster, and paint, his work is a constant negotiationbetween the planned and the circumstantial, between a programmatic and spontaneous action.This primordial tension inscribes the way Tiago Mestre approaches different techniques andlanguages.

His recent exhibitions include the solo shows Realismo, held at Uma Certa Falta de Coerência(Porto, 2024); Feu, at ZSenne ArtLab (Brussels, 2024); Sun, sun, sun, and Empire, at LAMB Gallery(London, 2023 and 2022 respectively), Smoke gets in your eyes, at Kupfer Projects (London, 2019)and Noite. Inextinguishable, inexpressible night, at Galeria Millan (São Paulo, 2017). Recent groupshows include Ervas Daninhas, at Quadra Galeria (São Paulo, 2024); Still Life, Still Living, at Olhão(São Paulo, 2024); Pequenas pinturas, at auroras, and Uma mão lava a outra, at Olhão (São Paulo,2022) and Jardim das delícias. Final judgment, at Galeria Cavalo (Rio de Janeiro, 2018).

Text courtesy Gomide&Co.