Isaque Pinheiro (Portugal, 1972)

An artist’s biography is something that is developed over time and can manifest itself as parallel to the work, a right and a poetic freedom. In the case of Isaque Pinheiro, born in 1972 in Lisbon, we can reinforce the idea of the biography, as something designed and constructed. A continuous chain of experiences and affects, between the reality of his daily life, his own doubts and fascinations. We could even identify countless “markers” of his experience, through different elements, as the statements by other artists and friends who populate his life, as the cities where he has lived and worked.

Regarding his artistic practice, we can clearly see that he is an artist who explores different means, revealing a continuous and restlessness intertwining of classical and contemporary issues supported by a critical reflection and assisted by a technical mastery, which is quite uncommon on current times. Example are his sculptural works as: “Até muros se fazem em mármore” (2017), “Memória #2” (2019) and “Passa Montanhas” (2020).

As he mentions on his artistic statement, he believes “that craftsmanship is a basic and permanent human urge and, that understanding techniques are evolved through the power of imagination” thus on his artistic practice he assumes that there is a strong dialogue between the techniques and the materials aligned with a multiplicity of intellectual dynamics, where he is able to raise questions touching social, political, sociological, financial abstractions issues.

Isaque Pinheiro has shown his work in several art galleries, museums and biennials including Stenersen Museum (Oslo, Norway), The Galician Contemporary Art Centre (CGAC) (Spain), Caixa Cultural do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), ​​XXI International Biennial of Cerveira (Portugal), Trio Bienal (Brazil), Maia Biennial (Portugal), European Culture Capital (Portugal), Soares dos Reis Museum (Portugal).

His work is part of several public art collections, including: PLMJ Foundation (PT), EDP Foundation/ MAAT (PT), Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso Museum (PT), MG Collection (PT), Biennial Museum of Cerveira, Galician Centre of Contemporary Art (SP), Caixanova Foundation (SP), Municipal Art Collection of Contemporary Art (PT), Water Closet 11 (PT), Galila Barzilai Hollander (BE) and Edson Queiroz Foundation (BR); and is present in many private art collections in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Spain,USA, and Portugal.

He was co-founder of Maus Habitos – Artistic Intervention Space in 2001, and Saco Azul – Associação Cultural na Cidade do Porto em 2006.