Biography
João Maria Gusmão (Lisbon, 1979) and Pedro Paiva (Lisbon, 1977) met in the late nineties while studying Fine Art in Lisbon. Since then, their fascination for philosophy has marked their artistic work. Their artistic collaboration, which they describe as a ‘philosophical-poetic fiction’, began in 2001. Focusing on literary texts and the history of science and philosophy, they have turned their work into a meeting point for science, fiction and mythology. Although they both pursue individual artistic careers, they also work together in the production of objects, installations, photographs and short 16 and 35 mm films. Fond of irony and the absurd, they use optical illusions, film media and obscure experiments to mistrust reason and show its limitations. Referencing occultism, speculative philosophy, the theatre of the absurd and science-fiction literature, their projects create dream scenarios that question the borders between science, perception, invention and magic.
Solo Exhibitions
- A Pele do Fantasma seguido d'A Sueca, Colecção Maria e Armando Cabral, Lisbon
- Lua Cão (with Alexandre Estrela), La Casa Encendida, Madrid
- WHERE THE SORCERER DOESN’T DARE TO STICK HIS NOSE and Another B&W Ghost Show, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
- A Dog with a Remarkable Tail, Galeria Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo
- Green Orange, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
- Estudos de Labirinto, Planetario Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon
- Lua Cão (with Alexandre Estrela), Kunstverein München, Munich
- Lua Cão (with Alexandre Estrela), Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon
- Avantesma Fantasma and a b&w ghost show, Galleria Zero, Milan
- Aveantesma Fantasma, BoCA Biennial of Contemporary Arts, Teatro Dona Maria II, Lisbon
- Those animals, that, at a distance, resemble flies / Os animais que ao longe parecem moscas, Oliva Creative Factory / José Lima Collection, São João de Madeira
- Jardin Infini. De Giverny à l'Amazonie, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Paris
- Kapsel 05: João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva. Peacock, Haus der Kunst, Munich
- The sleeping eskimo, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau
- Papagaio, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin
- Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid
- The Missing Hippopotamus, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne
- One month without filming, REDCAT, Los Angeles
- Papagaio, Camden Arts Centre, London
- Onça Geométrica, Galleria Zero, Milan
- O Problema de Molyneux, Galeria Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo
- Third man argument, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
- Maçã e Darwin, Macaco De Newton, Galeria Fonseca Macedo, Ponta Delgada, Azores
- Voltair's Armpit, Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp
- Trilemma : Over a Ghostly Conception Fri Art - Centre d'art de Fribourg, Fribourg
- Those animals that, at a distance, resemble flies, Kunsthaus Glarus, Glarus
- Since you have eaten the horse, you can travel to Rome by donkey: on dwarf philosophy, Kunsternernes Hus, Oslo
- 10.000 coisas, Galeria ZDB, Lisbon
- There’s nothing more to tell because this is small, as is every fecundation, Museo Marino Marini, Florence
- ... as in all circumstances of life, and especially those that, not being anything in themselves, will become everything in the results, Fondazione Brodbeck, Catania
- Alien Theory, Frac Île-de-France, Le Plateau, Paris
- Tem gwef tem gwef dr rr rr, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf
- "Desinit in Piscem”, More Precisely Ending in Fishtail, IMO Projects, Copenhagen
- A Brief History of Slowness and Vertigo, Galeria Graça Brandão, Lisbon
- Hand Smaller Than Hand, Galerie Kamm, Berlin
- The foot removes the sock which takes off the shoe which leaves the footprint..., Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
- Index, Stockholm, Sweden
- On the Movement of the Fried Egg and Other Astronomical Bodies, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
- Analogy, the description of the world, Galleria Zero, Milan
- Experiments and Observations on Different kinds of Air, Official Portuguese Representation of 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice
- About the presence of things, Kunstverein Hannover, Hanover
- Magnetic Resonance On Abissologic Experiments, Mercer Union – Centre For Contemporary Visual Art, Toronto
- Meteorítica, Galeria Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo
- Meteorítica, Galeria Graça Brandão, Lisbon
- Articulações, Allgarve, Minas de Salgema, Loulé
- Hydraulics of Solids, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington
- Passengers 1.7, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco
- Horizonte de Acontecimientos, Matadero Madrid
- Abissologia, Cordoaria Nacional / Galeria ZDB, Lisbon
- Crevasse, Laboratório 987, Museu de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Castilla y León
- Eflúvio Magnético (Síntese), Teatro Municipal da Guarda, Guarda
- Eflúvio Magnético (2ª. Parte), Galeria ZDB, Lisbon
- Intrusão: The Red Square, Museu do Chiado, Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon
- Matéria Imparticulada, Galeria Graça Brandão, Porto
- Eflúvio Magnético: O Nome do Fenómeno, Galeria ZDB, Lisbon
- O Ouro dos Idiotas, Projecto InTransit, Artes em Partes, Porto
- Air Liquide, Galeria Ara, Lisbon
Group Exhibitions
- Ways of Seeing Abstraction. Works from the Deutsche Bank Collection, PalaisPopulaire, Berlin
- Presente Contínuo: Adquisiçoes recentes da coleçao Norlinda e José Lima, Centro de art oliva, São João da Madeira
- Good Vibrations, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon
- Le Cours des Choses, CAPC - Musée d'art contemporain, Bordeaux
- The Third Bank, Anozero '19 - Bienal de Coimbra
- Potlatch, Museu do Caramulo, Caramulo
- Muitas Vezes Marquei Encontro Comigo Próprio no Ponto Zero, Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar, Lisbon
- Haus Wittgenstein, MAAT: Museu de Arte, Arquitectura e Tecnologia, Lisbon
- Black Light, Secret traditions in Art since the 1950s, CCCB - Centro de Cultura Contemporânea de Barcelona, Barcelona
- The pull of a well placed comma, MACE - Museu de Arte Contemporanea de Elvas
- Earl Gravy: Homebodies, Away Teams, UMOCA - Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City
- Like a Moth to a Flame, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin
- Quote / Unquote. Entre Apropriação e Diálogo, MAAT. Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia, Lisboa
- Them or us!, Galeria Municipal do Porto, Porto
- More Than Just Words [On the Poetic], Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna
- The String Traveller, Museum of Contemporary Art S.M.A.K., Ghent
- Animality: A Fairy Story, Marian Goodman Gallery, London
- Territories and Fictions - Thinking a new way of the world, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
- From Slow to Stop, The Holden Gallery | Manchester School of Art, Manchester
- The World Preserves The Memory Of All Past Traces. CV Collection, Centro de Arte Alcobendas, Madrid
- Celluloid, EYE film museum, Amsterdam
- SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul 2016, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul
- Travessa da Ermida a Sul, Centro de Artes de Sines, Sines
- Capital: Debt – Territory – Utopia, Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin
- The shadow never lies, 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai
- Ver (re)velar. Usos y representaciones de lo inexplicable, MUSAC, León
- Au sud d'aujourd'hui, Centre Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris
- Imagine Reality - RAY 2015 Fotografieprojekte Frankfurt/RheinMain, MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt
- À poil!, Benesisstrasse 8-12, 50672 Köln
- Überschönheit, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg
- Bare Wunder: Sigmar Polke - 100 Years of Mediumistic and Phantasmagorical Photography, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
- Frac Ile-de-France collection, Mamco, Musée d'art moderne et contemporain, Geneva
- Beautiful Monsters, Gladstone Gallery, New York
- Alimentário: Construção do Patrimônio Alimentar Brasileiro, Oca, São Paulo
- Kibou no Genri, Kunisaki Art Festival, Kunisaki
- Anthropocène Monument, Les Abattoirs FRAC Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse
- Art Unlimited, Art Basel, Art Basel, Basel
- Propaganda für die Wirklichkeit, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen
- Film as Sculpture, WIELS, Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels, Belgium
- The Encyclopedic Palace, 55th Venice Biennale - International Art Exhibition, Venice
- Future Generation Art Prize @ Venice, Ukrainian Collateral Event on the 55th Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia), Venice
- Nouvelles Impressions de Raymond Roussel, Palais de Tokyo , Paris
- It Is Only A State Of Mind, NGBK_ Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, Berlin
- 1966-79, IAC, Institut d'art contemporain, Villeurbanne
- Zweiter Streich, Fürstenberg Zeitgenössisch, Donaueschingen
- The Castle in the Air. Séance of Imagination, Centre of Culture ZAMEK, Poznan
- S. F. (Art, science & fiction), MAC's, Grand Hornu
- 21 Artists Shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize 2012, PinchukArtCentre, Kiev
- Tem calma o teu país está a desaparecer, Galeria ZDB, Lisbon
- In the Holocene, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA
- When Attitudes Became Form Become Attitudes, CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco
- Ghosts in the Machine, New Museum, New York
- Superpower: Africa in Science Fiction, Arnolfi Gallery, Bristol
- Collecting Collections and Concepts, Fábrica Asa, Guimarães
- Arte Portuguesa do Século XX 1960 – 2010, MNAC – Museu do Chiado, Lisbon
- VI Bienal de Arte e Cultura de São Tomé e Príncipe, Museu da Cidade, Lisbon; São Tomé, São Tomé e Principe
- Octopus 11: The Matter of Air, Gertrude contemporary art spaces, Melbourne
- Kunst und Philosophie, n.b.k. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin
- The Art of Narration changes with Time, Sprüth Magers, Berlin
- Experimental Station, CA2M, Madrid
- Exposição permanente do Museu Colecção Berardo (1960-2010), Museu Colecção Berardo, Lisbon
- Staging the Archive, MACE - Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Elvas, Elva
- THE LAST FIRST DECADE, Ellipse Foundation, Alcoitão
- Responsive Subject, MUZee, Ostende
- 10,000 Lives, the 8th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju
- Leopards in the Temple, Sculpture Center, New York
- The Inhabitants, Vilma Gold Gallery, London
- FAX, Plug In ICA, Winnipeg, Manitoba; The Drawing Center, New York; Contemporary Museum Baltimore, Baltimore; Plug In ICA, Winnipeg; Dowd Gallery, State University of New York, College at Cortland, Cortland, New York; Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City; Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby; Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong; Torrance Art Museum, Torrance
- Magic Show, The Hayward Gallery; QUAD, Derby; Pump House Gallery, London; Chapter, Cardiff; Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle; Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool
- Monument for Transformation, City Gallery Prague
- Corpo, Densidade e Limites, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Elvas
- Options & Futures, Fundação PLMJ, Lisbon
- Feitorias, Museu de Arte Contemporânea do Funchal
- Manifesta 7 – European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Rovereto, Italy
- Rendez-vous Nowhere, Centro Cultural Montehermoso, Vitoria-Gasteiz
- Part of the Process 3, Galleria Zero, Milan
- Múltiplas Direcções, arte portuguesa de 1850 até à actualidade, Museu do Chiado – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon
- Parangolé: Fragmentos desde los 90 en Brasil, Portugal y España, Patio Herreriano – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Español, Valladolid
- O Presente: Uma Dimensão Infinita, Museu Colecção Berardo, Lisbon
- L’art contemporain en Europe, Domaine Pommery, Reims
- Fables Du Doute / Tales Of Disbelief, La Galerie – Centre d’art contemporain, Noisy le Sec, Paris
- Portugal Agora – À propos des lieux d’origine, Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxemburg
- Colecção António Cachola: Algumas Paisagens, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Elvas
- Tiempo Al Tiempo / Taking Time, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo, Vigo
- Passengers, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco
- VI Bienal de Mercosul, Porto Alegre
- Sobreposições, Museu do Chiado – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon
- IX Prémio União Latina, Culturgest, Lisbon
- Edit! Fotografia e filme na Colecção Ellipse, Centro de Artes Visuais, Coimbra
- Intro, Espace photographique Contretype, Brussels
- I Trienal de Luanda, Luanda
- XXVII Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo
- Laberinto de Museos, Instituto Cervantes, Beijing
- Open House, Ellipse Foundation, Centro Cultural de Cascais, Cascais
- Empirismos, Museu da Imagem e do Som, São Paulo / Espaço Cultural Contemporâneo, Brasília
- 25 Frames por Segundo: Vídeos da Colecção Fundação PLMJ, Cinema São Jorge, Lisbon
- Retratos e Figuras na colecção do Museu do Chiado, Museu do Chiado – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon
- Constelações Afectivas II – Partes I e II, Galeria Graça Brandão, Lisbon
- Options & Futures #2, Galeria Arte Contempo, Lisbon
- Mar Atlântico – Portuguese Video Art, FVNM Screening Room 1307, Chicago
- Portuguese Screen Videoart, loop.05, Barcelona; Museu do Chiado – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon
- Toxic, o discurso do excesso, Fundição de Oeiras
- Empirismos / LisboaPhoto, Palácio da Ajuda, Lisbon
- Del Zero al 2005 – Perspectivas del Arte en Portugal, Fundación Marcelino Botín, Santander
- Drafting Deceit (special screening), Apexart, New York
- Prémio EDP Novos Artistas, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon
- Rencontre internationale de lieux de culture indépendants, Bizart, Shanghai
- Video Zone 2, The Centre for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv
- Re-Produtores de Sentido, SESC Rio, Rio de Janeiro
- Quartel – Arte, Trabalho e Revolução, PêSSEGOpráSEMANA, Porto
- Cidade Iluminada, Galeria ZDB, Lisbon
- How Human: Life in the Post-Genome Era, International Center of Photography, New York
- Veneer / Folheado, Catalyst Arts, Belfast
- Os Meus Cromos da Arte Contemporânea, Bienal de Foz Côa, Moncorvo
- DeParamnésia (parte 3), Tercenas do Marquês / Galeria ZDB, Lisbon
- DeParamnésia (parte 2), Tercenas do Marquês / Galeria ZDB, Lisbon
- DeParamnésia (parte 1), Tercenas do Marquês / Galeria ZDB, Lisbon
- InMemory Galeria ZDB, Lisbon
Bibliography
- Sabine Altorfer: Vegane Kunst mit Fleisch am Knochen, Aargauer Zeitung, 3 May
- Raimar Stange: Papagaio, ArtReview, March issue p.104
- Hanna Styrie: Fliegende Spiegeleier, Kölner Rundschau, 28 August
- Michael Köhler: Wo ist nur das Flusspferd hin?, Kölner Stadtanzeiger, 28 August
- Daniel Kothenschulte: In Köln verdammen Gusmão und Paiva den Häschenwitz zur Ewigkeit, Monopol, October issue, p.129
- Sophie Jung: Spricht die Psyche, spricht der Verstand?, die tageszeitung (taz), 30 December
- Daniel Kothenschulte: Innehalten im Fluss der Zeit, Monopol - Magazin für Kunst und Leben, 23 September
- Max Goldberg: Slow Ride: João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva’s ONE MONTH WITHOUT FILMING, SFAQ international arts and culture, 12 August
- Adrian Searle: Mad, magical and mesmerising: Gusmão + Paiva's labyrinth of silent films, The Guardian, 4 February
- Barbara Casavecchia: João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva: Papagaio, Hangar Bicocca, Milan, ArtReview, October issue, p.149
- Alexandria Symonds: Gusmão and Paiva's Slow Revolution, Interview, June issue
- Ilaria Bombelli: Gusmão + Paiva: Papagaio, domus, 25 June
- Ina Lockhart: Kunstmarktkompass. Die 25 vielversprechendsten Nachwuchskünstler der Welt. Das neue Wir-Gefühl., Capital, 10/2013, pp. 150 - 161
- It is only a state of mind, Published by NGBK - Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst e.V., Berlin and Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg
- Alexis Jakubowicz:João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva, Frieze.de, Winter 2012
- Darrieussecq, Marie: One Instant, Frieze, March 2012
- Barbara Casavecchia: João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva - Marino Marini, Frieze, December 2011
- Elodie Evers: João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva - Tem gwef tem gwef dr rr rr, (Exhib. cat) Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
- Searle, Adrian: João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva’s fried eggs and cosmic events, The Guardian, 4. February 2010, p. 22.
- On the movement of the fried egg and other astronomical bodies, IKON Gallery, Birmingham
- João Maria Gusmão e Pedro Paiva, Dardo Magazine, n. 11 jun – sept 2009, Spain & Portugal
- Chiara Leoni: Scaling mount analogue, MOUSSE, issue #15, October 2008
- Parangolé vol.2., Museo Patio Herreriano e Dardo Editora, Spain, Text by: LAPA, Pedro
- Chris Sharp: Pedro Paiva & João Maria Gusmão, Frieze, March 2008
- Passengers 1.7: João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, Text by: Jens Hoffmann
- Gabriel, Alexandre; Moraes, Marcia. Galeria Fortes Vilaça, Rio de Janeiro: Editora Cobogó.
- Hydraulics of Solids, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand, Text by: Tina Barton
- Abissology: Horizon of Events , Published by Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Matadero Madrid, PhotoEspaña, La Fábrica Editorial, Galeria ZDB, 2007, Lisbon, Portugal. Texts by: different authors
- Propostas da Arte Portuguesa, posição: 2007, Published by Público e Serralves Foundation, 2007, Lisbon, Portugal. Texts by: Miguel Von Hafe Pérez, João Maria Gusmão e Pedro Paiva
- Colecção António Cachola, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Elvas, Published by Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Elvas, 2007, Elvas, Portugal Texts by: João Pinharanda
- Guia MUSAC7, Published by MUSAC – Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Castilla e León, 2007, Castilla e León, Spain. Texts by: Tania Pardo
- Arte e Artistas em Portugal, Published by Instituto Camões e Bertrand Editora, 2007, Lisbon, Portugal. Texts by: Alexandre Melo
- Eflúvio Magnético vol2, Published by João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva, 2006, Lisbon, Portugal. Texts by: João Maria Gusmão e Pedro Paiva and others
- Momentos de Luz, Published by Fundação EDP e Fundación Hidrocantábrico, 2006, Lisbon, Portugal. Texts by: João Pinharanda
- NADA nº7, Published by NADA, 2006, Lisbon, Portugal. Texts by: João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva
- Fotografia na Arte, de ferramenta a paradigma, Published by Público e Fundação Serralves, 2006, Lisbon, Portugal. Texts by: Ricardo Nicolau and Sandra Vieira Jurgens
- Ellipse Foundation, Contemporary Art Collection, Published by Ellipse Foundation, 2006, Cascais, Portugal. Texts by: different authors
- Anamnese, Published by Fundação Ilidío Pinho, 2006, Porto, Portugal. Texts by: different authors
- Eflúvio Magnético vol1, Published by João Maria Gusmão e Pedro Paiva, 2005, Lisbon, Portugal. Texts by: João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva and others.
- Extensão do Olhar – Uma antologia visual da fotografia contemporânea, obras da colecção da fundação PLMJ, Published by Assírio e Alvim, 2004, Lisbon, Portugal. Texts by: Miguel Amado
- Fiasco: João Maria Gusmão, Published by Galeria Ara, Lisbon, Portugal. Texts by: Lúcia Marques