Alexandre da Cunha explained

Alexandre da Cunha
Birth Place:Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Education:Royal College of Art and Chelsea College of Arts, London
Known For:Sculpture and wall mounted work using found objects

Alexandre da Cunha (born 1969) is a Brazilian-British artist,[1] who produces sculpture and wall mounted works, often using found objects. His works have been exhibited around the world, and are located in several major public collections.

Biography

Alexandre da Cunha was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1969.[2] After initial studies at Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado in Brazil, da Cunha moved to the United Kingdom in the late 1990s, studying sculpture at the Royal College of Art[3] before moving to the Chelsea College of Arts. Since his studies, da Cunha lives and works in both London and São Paulo.

In the early 1990s, da Cunha began working with Galeria Luisa Strina, the oldest contemporary art gallery in Brazil – with his first solo exhibition taking place in 1998.[4]

Work

In his work, da Cunha mixes the use of found, mass produced and 'ready made' objects with 'traditional' sculpture – by repurposing and reusing them.[5] [6] In 2006, he stated that the items that he uses often have no monetary value, describing them as "things I found on the streets ... ready for the garbage can".[7] For example, the 2004 work Skateboarderistismatronics (fan) is made of recycled skateboards – da Cunha stated that the old skateboards are worthless, but nevertheless they have "huge personal value" to the skaters themselves.[8] Despite the variety in the size of his works – from a small sculpture to a concrete mixer[9] – the aesthetic of the artwork is balanced against the social and cultural history of the materials that the work is made from.[10] In 2015, he exhibited a circular composition originally made out of a used cleaning mop.[11]

His works are inspired by the Neo-Concrete Brazilian art movement of the late 1950s, Op art, well as modernist architecture found in major Brazilian cities.[12] da Cunha also frequently uses the tropes of national identity, such as flags and iconography, in his work.[13] Frieze states da Cunha's "historical lineage" includes classical sculpture, baroque patterns, Primitivism, Arte Povera, and Brazilian Modernism.[14]

In the late 2010s, da Cunha was commissioned by Art on the Underground to create a public artwork for the new Northern line extension to Battersea. His work at Battersea Power Station – Sunset, Sunrise, Sunset – is a 100-metre-long kinetic sculpture, using the technology of a rotating billboard.[15] [16] As the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the 2020 New Contemporaries exhibition could not take place, da Cunha and artists Anthea Hamilton and Linder selected works for an online exhibition.[17]

Exhibitions

Da Cunha has exhibited works at a variety of solo and group exhibitions across the world since the 2000s. Solo exhibitions have included:

Collections

Public artworks

Publications

References

  1. Web site: Tate . 'Skateboarderistismatronics (fan)', Alexandre da Cunha, 2004 . 2022-05-01 . Tate . en-GB . British-Brazilian artist Alexandre da Cunha.
  2. Web site: Alexandre da Cunha Biography . 2022-05-01 . Thomas Dane Gallery.
  3. Web site: Art on the Underground unveils permanent artwork for new Battersea Power Station Underground by our former MA Sculpture student, Alexandre da Cunha . 2022-05-01 . RCA Website . en-GB . our former MA Sculpture student, Alexandre da Cunha.
  4. Web site: Alexandre da Cunha — Artists . 2022-05-01 . Galeria Luisa Strina . pt-BR.
  5. Web site: Pariante . Fabio . 2021-12-14 . 5 questions for artist Alexandre da Cunha . 2022-05-01 . MuseumWeek magazine . en-US . I am an artist who works mostly with sculpture, using found and industrialized objects and materials.
  6. Web site: Alexandre da Cunha - Artist - Saatchi Gallery . 2022-05-01 . Saatchi Gallery.
  7. Book: Moura, Rodrigo . Economies of Desire . . 2006 . 10 . things I found on the streets, in the front of houses, in box rooms, pantries, ready for the garbage can.
  8. Web site: Tate . 'Skateboarderistismatronics (fan)', Alexandre da Cunha, 2004 . 2022-05-01 . Tate . en-GB.
  9. Web site: Alexandre da Cunha . 2022-05-01 . Laumeier Sculpture Park . en-US.
  10. Web site: Trigging . David . Alexandre da Cunha – interview: 'All my work is about combining things and making them have a conversation, or sometimes an argument' . 2022-05-01 . www.studiointernational.com.
  11. Web site: Duarte . Luisa . 2015-04-21 . Alexandre da Cunha . 2024-04-29 . Artforum . en-US.
  12. Web site: Pariante . Fabio . 2021-12-14 . 5 questions for artist Alexandre da Cunha . 2022-05-01 . MuseumWeek magazine . en-US . Da Cunha is inspired by .. modernist architecture and Op Art..
  13. Web site: Collection . Zabludowicz . Alexandre da Cunha Artist . 2022-05-01 . Zabludowicz Collection . en.
  14. Web site: Harvey . Nicola . 2008-06-02 . Alexandre da Cunha . 2022-05-01 . Frieze . en.
  15. Web site: Sunset, Sunrise, Sunset . 2020-04-13 . Art on the Underground . en.
  16. Web site: Myers . Lynne . 2021-09-20 . alexandre da cunha unveils 100m kinetic artwork for london underground . 2022-05-01 . . en.
  17. Web site: Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2020 Digital Platform . 2021-01-29 . New Contemporaries . en-gb.
  18. Web site: 2021 . Brighton CCA — Alexandre da Cunha . 2022-05-01 . Brighton CCA.
  19. Web site: Lloyd-Smith . Harriet . 2018-08-06 . Sculptors Phillip King and Alexandre da Cunha to pair up for 'live' collaboration . 2022-05-01 . Wallpaper*.
  20. Web site: Alexandre da Cunha . 2022-05-01 . Office Baroque . en-US.
  21. News: McLean . Matthew . 2016-04-07 . Alexandre da Cunha - Thomas Dane Gallery, London, UK . en . Frieze . 179 . 2022-05-01 . 0962-0672.
  22. Web site: 2015-04-12 . MCA Chicago Plaza Project Alexandre da Cunha . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150412225547/http://www2.mcachicago.org/exhibition/mca-chicago-plaza-project-alexandre-da-cunha/ . 12 April 2015 . 2022-05-01 . Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
  23. Web site: Canal Contemporâneo Agenda de eventos Dublê . 2022-05-01 . www.canalcontemporaneo.art.br.
  24. Web site: Alexandre da Cunha, Laissez-faire, 10 July - 13 September 2009 . 2022-05-01 . Camden Arts Centre.
  25. Web site: Tate . Alexandre da Cunha born 1969 . 2022-05-01 . Tate . en-GB.
  26. Web site: Collection . Zabludowicz . Alexandre da Cunha Artist . 2022-05-01 . Zabludowicz Collection . en.
  27. News: Alexandre da Cunha . 2024-03-15 . ICA Boston . en-US.
  28. Web site: Terremoto . MO.CO presents «Mecarõ. Amazonia in the Petitgas Collection» . 2024-03-15 . Terremoto . en.
  29. Web site: ALEXANDRE DA CUNHA'S 'MIX' FEATURES MONSOON ART COLLECTION . 2022-05-01 . monsoonartcollection.com.
  30. Web site: 2017-09-20 . New Public Art is Coming to the Fenway . 2022-05-01 . Boston Magazine . en-US.
  31. Web site: News - Alexandre da Cunha: Mix II at Rochaverá Corporate Towers . 2022-05-01 . Thomas Dane Gallery.

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