Paulo Monteiro

Paulo Monteiro (b. 1961, São Paulo) rejects monumentality and grand statements in his art in favor of expressive immediacy and intimacy, and an embrace of contingency, subtle humor, and gesture, stating: “I’m more connected to the expression, to the poetic, instead of sticking to a technique that favors me.”

Monteiro emerged as an artist in São Paulo where he continues to live and work. Initially drawn to illustration and cartoon imagery, he was inspired to cultivate his painting practice in 1981, when he first encountered the late work of Philip Guston in Philip Guston: Seus Últimos Anos, the American exhibition at that year’s São Paulo Bienal. In 1983, he cofounded the artist’s group Casa 7 with Fábio Miguez, Rodrigo Andrade, Carlito Carvalhosa, and Antonio Malta. Inspired by Guston’s profound humor and incorporation of comic imagery into contemporary painting, as well as by the example of European Neo-Expressionism, Monteiro and his compatriots in Casa 7 introduced a new energy to Brazilian painting. Monteiro would combine these innovations with the compositional concerns of Neo-Concrete art specific to Brazilian contemporary art to develop his singular practice.

Monteiro participated in the São Paulo Bienal in 1985, 1994, and 2013. In 2000, his work was included in Brasil 500 Anos, an exhibition held at the São Paulo Bienal Foundation that traveled to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal. In 2008, the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo organized Paulo Monteiro: A Selection 1989–2008. His work is in public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Moderna de São Paulo; Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro; and Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo.

The Two Sides of an Empty Line at Lévy Gorvy is organized in collaboration with Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo. Monteiro is represented by Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp, and Misako & Rosen, Tokyo.

PAULO MONTEIRO
Untitled
2020
Oil on linen
66 7/8 x 90 1/2 inches (169.9 x 229.9 cm)

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PAULO MONTEIRO
Untitled
2020
Patinated bronze
16 1/8 x 37 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches (41 x 95.9 x 26 cm)

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PAULO MONTEIRO
Untitled
2020
Oil on linen
11 3/4 x 8 5/8 inches (29.8 x 21.9 cm)

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PAULO MONTEIRO
Untitled
2020
Oil on bronze
18 7/8 x 2 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches (47.9 x 7 x 4.4 cm)

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PAULO MONTEIRO
Untitled
2020
Oil on linen
57 1/2 x 78 3/4 inches (146.1 x 200 cm)

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PAULO MONTEIRO
Untitled
2020
Oil on linen
13 5/8 x 9 1/8 inches (34.6 x 23.2 cm)

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