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Emmanuel Nassar

1949, Capanema, Brazil
Lives and works in Belém, Brazil

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about

The work of Emmanuel Nassar is essentially comprised of painting and the amalgam of different substrates, which include canvas, wood, glass and metal plates. The artist appropriates signs and techniques including the popular and folk universes and currents in contemporary art, notably pop art and concretism. With a certain irony, Nassar’s work evokes notions of an industrial precariousness,  which at the same time laments and praises local solutions. For writer and curator Ligia Canongia, his work is a Brazilian response to the principles established by pop art, thought out with intelligence and adjusted to the limits of our repertoire.

He earned a degree in architecture from Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) in 1975. He had retrospective shows, among which: Lataria Espacial, Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janerio, Brazil (2022); EN: 81-18, Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo, Brazil (2018); A Poesia da Gambiarra, curated by Denise Mattar, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Brasília, Brazil (2003); and Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil (1998). He has also held dozens of solo exhibitions, among which are: Galeria Millan, São Paulo, Brazil (2016, 2013, 2010, 2008, 2005, and 2003); Museu Castro Maya, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2013); Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2012): Centro Universitário Maria Antonia, São Paulo, Brazil (2009); Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil (2003).

Among the recent group shows he has participated, the following stand out: I Bienal das Amazônias, Belém, Brasil; Brasil Futuro: as formas da democracia, Museu Nacional da República, Brasília; Espaço Cultural Casa das Onze Janelas, Belém, in 2023; Desvairar 22, Sesc Pinheiros, São Paulo, SP (2022); Crônicas Cariocas, Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (2021); Língua Solta, Museu da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo, SP (2021); Potência e Adversidade, Pavilhão Branco e Pavilhão Preto, Campo Grande, Lisboa, Portugal (2017); Aquilo que Nos Une, Caixa Cultural Rio de Janeiro, RJ (2016); 140 Caracteres, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, SP (2014); O Abrigo e o Terreno, Museu de Arte do Rio, RJ (2013); Ensaios de Geopoética, 8ª Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, RS (2011); VI Bienal Internacional de Estandartes, Tijuana, México (2010); Fotografia Brasileira Contemporânea, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlim, Alemanha (2006); Brasil + 500 – Mostra do Redescobrimento, Fundação Bienal de São Paul, SP (2000); 6ª Bienal de Cuenca, Equador (1998); 24ª e 20ª Bienal de São Paulo, SP (1998 e 1989); representação brasileira na Bienal de Veneza, Itália (1993); U-ABC, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdã, Holanda; e a 3ª Bienal de Havana, Cuba (1989).

His works are featured in institutional collections such as Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, Nova York, EUA, e Caracas, Venezuela; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo; Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo; Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro; Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro; Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Niterói; Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto, e University Essex Museum, Inglaterra.

Artist’s website

works