João Loureiro

From his early sculptures, where known references are items of furniture, to his current research on architecture, João Loureiro’s work starts with the questioning of everyday actions in order to discuss matters regarding representation and the relationships between form and function and, more importantly, between inanimate objects and the habits they relate to and, also, conform with.

In a series of sculptures initiated in 1996, pieces of furniture – whose specific function determined a certain shape for them – had their formal characteristics partially altered. In a circular church bench, for example, the seat is surrounded by the back, leaving only the kneeler accessible. In other sculptures of the series, similar bench sections become individual chairs, where only the corners that would be part of the structure of the flat surfaces are present. In these tri-dimensional designs, the lateral surfaces – which seem to have been cut, and reveal what was supposed to be their interior – are coated with colors that are lighter than the ones used on the other surfaces of the structural slats. Far from being merely formal exercises, these and other pieces of the same period are investigations into our habits and into the ways customs and tastes get imprinted onto things.

Loureiro has held solo exhibitions at Fundação Cultural Ema Gordon Klabin, Galeria Vermelho, Centro Britânico Brasileiro, Centro Universitário Maria Antônia in São Paulo, Volta 6 in Basel, and Paço Imperial in Rio de Janeiro. He is the recipient of the 14th Cultura Inglesa Festival Award from the Centro Britânico Brasileiro, Art and Heritage Notice, Connection Visual Arts Award, Award Acquisition Energies Brazil, among others.