Biography

The work of Bruno Dunley (b. 1984, Petropolis, Brazil) questions the specificity of painting, particularly in relation to representation and materiality. His paintings depart from carefully constructed compositions, which he gradually begins to correct,alter, and cover up, frequently revealing the lacunae in the apparent continuity of perception. Bruno Dunley is part of a new generation of Brazilian painters called 200e8 group. The collective, based in São Paulo, was founded with a common interest in painting, to enable its eight members to develop a critical approach to painting within the contemporary art scene. Dunley’s work begins with found images and with an analysis of the nature of painting, where language codes such as gesture, plane, surface, and representation are understood as an alphabet. Recently, his practice has shifted towards gestural abstraction, all while maintaining his interest for representation.

 

As stated by the artist “I see my work as a series of questions and affirmations about the possibilities of painting, about its essence and our expectations of it.” Often, a single color predominates the surface of his compositions, establishing a minimalist language and a meditative quality, that is frequently addressed in critical texts about his work. More recently, the artist has shown an interest for more aggressive composition, expressed through vibrant and contrasting colors. The 200e8's practices stipulate that stable or preconceived ideas about artistic processes should be abandoned, and procedures continually reformulated. In the work of Dunley, promises are made and consequently broken, testing the limits of the viewer’s tension.

 

Bruno Dunley lives and work in São Paulo. Recent solo shows and projects include: Clouds, at Nara Roesler (2023), in New York, USA; Virá, at Nara Roesler (2020), in São Paulo, Brazil;The Mirror, at Nara Roesler (2018), in New York, USA; Dilúvio, at SIM Galeria (2018), in Curitiba, Brazil; Ruído, at Nara Roesler (2015), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; e, at Centro Universitário Maria Antonia (CEUMA) (2013), in São Paulo, Brazil. He participated in the 33th Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2018). Recent group shows include: Entre tanto, at Casa de Cultura do Parque (CCP) (2020), in São Paulo, Brazil; Triangular - Arte deste século, at Casa Niemeyer (2019), in Brasília, Brazil;  AI-5 50 anos – Ainda não terminou de acabar, at Instituto Tomie Ohtake (ITO) (2018), in São Paulo, Brazil; 139 X Nothing but Good, at Park – Platform for Visual Arts (2018), inTilburg, The Netherlands; Visões da arte no acervo do MAC USP 1900-2000, at Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC-USP) (2016), in São Paulo, Brazil; and Deserto-modelo, at 713 Arte Contemporáneo (2010), in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His works are included in important institutional collections, such as: Instituto Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC-USP), São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM-SP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil, and Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Exhibitions

News

Press

  • a pintura reinventada Download

    a pintura reinventada

    antonio gonçalves filho, o estado de s. paulo 23.6.2018
  • pintura é estrela em mostras nos jardins Download

    pintura é estrela em mostras nos jardins

    folha de s.paulo - guia da folha 22.6.2018
  • how east hampton’s rich art history inspired bruno dunley’s new abstract works View article

    how east hampton’s rich art history inspired bruno dunley’s new abstract works

    artnet Gallery Network, ArtNet 22.1.2018
  • View article

    "ruído", individual de bruno dunley

    prêmio PIPA 24.11.2015

Critical Essays

  • regarding bruno dunley's mirror's or seeking the lighthouse of the drowned

    tadeu chiarelli
    I’d like to start off this text with a fact: 34-year-old Bruno Dunley’s career as a professional painter goes back eleven years (his first solo show happened in 2007). Thus, one could argue that as he came up as an artist, the internet and its devices were already part of most people’s lives, broadening and completely changing our perception of art and reality[1] . This new scenario exponentially heightens the presence of second-generation images in our daily lives, a condition which a considerable part of global society had already been experiencing since at least the end of World War II. Throughout the 1980s, this scenario would see its first heyday, especially in art production. In that decade – that is, some 30 years ago –, some artists and critics emphasized a phenomenon which characterized much of the art of then: the “return to the museum.” They argued that art from that decade (better known as the “painting revival” years) found itself in a peculiar situation: many artists were...