Biography
Cao Guimarães’ (b. 196, Belo Horizonte, Brazil) work derives from an expanded approach towards cinema, initiated during an inceptive moment in video art in Brazil. The artist transitions from the super-8 film into video, creating connections with visual arts while using cinematic language. His imagery creates an inventory of distinct and perhaps visually intriguing moments of everyday life, such as ants carrying confetti after Carnival, or soap bubbles floating along the corridors of an empty house. Always seeking to document the ordinary, the artists seeks to find poetry in places where it wouldn't be immediately recognisable.
Cao Guimarães also experiments with photography, notably in his series titled Gambiarras, where his work focuses on the makeshift culture of creatively shifting the function of objects while solving problems of everyday life. Despite the static nature of photography, the seriality in Guimarães’ works allows for a sense of sequence and juxtaposition of still images that mirror narrative aspects of a film.
Guimarães lives and works in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. His films have been exhibited in several festivals such as the Berlin International Film Festival (2014), the Sundance Film Festival (2007), the Cannes Film Festival (2005) and the Rotterdam International Film Festival (2005, 2007 e 2008), amongst others.
Some of his latest solo shows included: Cao Guimarães - Ciclo de filmes, at Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia (MAAT) (2020), in Lisbon, Portugal;Ver é uma fábula, at Centro Dragão do Mar de Arte e Cultura (CDMAC) (2018), in Fortaleza, Brazil, at Instituto Itaú Cultural (2013), in São Paulo, Brazil, and also at Galerie Anita Beckers (2013), in Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Después, at Galerie Xippas (2016), in Punta del Este, Uruguay; Estética da gambiarra, at Sesc Interlagos (2015), in São Paulo, Brazil. Recent group shows include: 7th Contemporary Art Bienalle, Spain (2018); 34th, 32th and 27th Panorama da Arte Brasileira, Brazil (2015, 2011 e 2001); Arqueologias do presente, at Nara Roesler (2021), in São Paulo, Brazil; Art and Space, at Guggenheim Bilbao Museum (2017), in Bilbao, Spain; Video Art in Latin America, II Pacific Standart Time: LA/LA (PST: LA/LA), at LAXART (2017), in Hollywood, USA; From the Margin to the Edge: Brazilian Art and Design in the 21st Century, at Somerset House (2012), in London, UK. His works are included in major public collections such as those of: Fondation Cartier Pour L’art Contemporain, Paris, France; Tate Modern, London, UK; Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Museum of Moderm Art (MoMA), New York, USA.
Exhibitions
-
archaeologies in the present
nara roesler curatorial nucleus and luis pérez-oramas 27.11.2021 - 29.1.2022Nara Roesler São Paulo presents a dialogue between the work of Cao Guimarães (b. 1965) and Manoela Medeiros (b. 1991), in an exhibition curated by...Read more -
inside | online exhibition
11.4 - 30.5.2020Inside is a virtual exhibition composed of dissimilar works, grouped under the common denominator of the inside/interior. The emblematic image of the curatorial selection is...Read more -
archaeologies of the selfie
luis pérez-oramas 27.2 - 30.5.2020Galeria Nara Roesler | New York is delighted to inaugurate its 2020 exhibitions program with a group show titled Archaeologies of the Selfie, curated by...Read more -
estruturas encontradas
luis pérez-oramas 2.12.2019 - 15.2.2020It is with great pleasure that Galeria Nara Roesler | São Paulo presents Estruturas Encontradas [Found Structures], a group exhibition bringing together artworks by Brígida...Read more -
festival cao guimarães
cao guimarães 27.11 - 9.12.2017Em ocasião da mostra Locus: Apichatpong Weerasethakul – Cao Guimarães em exibição no EYE Film Museum , em Amsterdã, até dia 3 de dezembro, e...Read more
-
roesler hotel #27 | purity is a myth/a pureza é um mito
michael asbury 10.6 - 29.7.2017Purity is a Myth: the monochrome in contemporary art Galeria Nara Roesler | São Paulo is pleased to present Purity is a Myth: the monochrome...Read more -
metrópole
alberto baraya, alice miceli, cao guimarães, hélio oiticica, isaac julien, lucia koch, marco maggi, marcos chaves, melanie smith, milton machado, paul ramírez jonas, paulo bruscky, raul mourão, vik muniz e virginia de medeiros 4.2 - 9.3.2017Starting its 2017 exhibition calendar, concurrently with a solo show by Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea, Galeria Nara Roesler | São Paulo presents Metrópole, a group...Read more -
chromophilia vs chromophobia: an exploration of color
abraham palatnik, antonio dias, bruno dunley, cao guimarães, carlito carvalhosa, daniel buren, daniel senise, haegue yang, hélio oiticica, julio le parc, lucia koch, marcelo silveira, marco maggi, milton machado, not vital, rodolpho parigi, sérgio sister, tomie ohtake and vik muniz. 19.11.2016 - 21.1.2017Galeria Nara Roesler | São Paulo is pleased to present Chromophilia vs. Chromophobia: an exploration of color. The group exhibition features eighteen pieces by Abraham...Read more -
retroatos
cao guimarães 17.11.2016 - 21.1.2017Galeria Nara Roesler | Rio de Janeiro presents Retroatos (Retroactions), Cao Guimarães’ first show in the Rio venue, and the seventh since he began working...Read more -
drift
cao guimarães -- curated by moacir dos anjos 30.3 - 29.4.2016We are pleased to present Cao Guimarães´s first solo exhibition in New York at Galeria Nara Roesler´s recently inaugurated New York space. The exhibition will...Read more
-
depois
cao guimarães 7.4 - 6.6.2015Cao Guimarães just turned 50 last January. The date and a new book on his work from publisher Cosac Naify have motivated the artist from...Read more -
portable practice
group show 18.1 - 18.2.2014Created by the gallery for our artists, the show brings together works that hone in on the poetics of their practice and, in some capacity, synthesize their works.Read more
News
-
unbound: performance as rupture
cao guimarães 17.8.2023Curated by Lisa Long, the group exhibition Unbound: Performance as Rupture examines how different generations of artists have used video art as a disruptive language....Read more -
para além das margens
cao guimarães 17.10.2022Para Além das Margens premieres this Saturday (10/15), at 11 am, at the The Vale Memorial, which was originally conceived by Instituto Cultural Vale for...Read more -
cria experiências de invenção
cao guimarães, o grivo 16.9.2022CRIA is more than an exhibition of visual arts as it allows multisensory experiences and access to different cultural knowledge, with elements of music, literature,...Read more -
notes for tomorrow
cao guimarães 13.9.2022Independent Curators International conceived and developed “Notes for Tomorrow” as a traveling exhibition to encourage international collaboration and versatile modes of presentation and features artworks...Read more -
film screening
cao guimarães, raul mourão and xavier veilhan 2.9.2022Nara Roesler and the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM Rio) will host a screening, premiering Veilhan’s new short film titled, Le...Read more
-
língua solta
paulo bruscky, cao guimarães, marcelo silveira 9.8.2021On August 1st, the Museu da Língua Portuguesa reopened to the public following five years of closure due to a fire in 2015. Amongst various...Read more -
cao guimarães – film screening
cao guimarães 9.9.2020Cao Guimarães has been included in the maat Mode 2020 programme with a selection of films especially thought for a Portuguese audience, which is largely...Read more -
samba in the dark
cao guimarães, lucia koch, marcos chaves, sérgio sister 22.1.2020Cao Guimarães, Lucia Koch, Marcos Chaves and Sérgio Sister are part of the exhibition 'Samba In The Dark', at A nton Kern Gallery, in New...Read more -
14a bienal de curitiba
abraham palatnik, berna reale, cao guimarães, julio le parc, león ferrari, paulo bruscky, raul mourão 7.10.2019Artists Berna Reale, Cao Guimarães, Julio Le Parc, León Ferrari, Paulo Bruscky and Raul Mourão participate in the 14ª Bienal de Curitiba: Fronteiras em Aberto....Read more -
nature: between desire and reality
cao guimarães 11.9.2019Cao Guimarães participa da exposição coletiva Nature: Between Desire and Reality, parte de um projeto transdisciplinar que coloca arte e ciência em diálogo. A coletiva...Read more
-
disco é cultura: o disco de vinil na arte contemporânea brasileira
antonio dias, brígida baltar, cao guimarães, ogrivo, paulo bruscky 17.4.2019A exposição coletiva Disco é Cultura: o disco de vinil na arte contemporânea brasileira, com curadoria de Chico Dub, analisa a influência do disco de...Read more -
brasília extemporânea
cao guimarães, milton machado 24.9.2018The exhibition 'Brasília Extemporânea', signed by the curator Ana Avelar, proposes works by artists who came across this current city, or who dialogue with aspects...Read more -
arte democracia utopia - quem não luta tá morto
antonio dias, cao guimarães, paulo bruscky, virginia de medeiros 11.9.2018Sem ter pretensão de apresentar um panorama conclusivo, a mostra 'Quem não luta tá morto - arte democracia utopia' traz exemplos do pensamento utópico que...Read more -
mam 70: mam e mac usp
cao guimarães, paulo bruscky 31.8.2018The commemorative exhibition is a collaboration between the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo and the Museum of Contemporary Art of USP, highlighting emblematic...Read more -
masterclass cao guimarães - ver é uma fábula
cao guimarães 4.5.2018O renomado cineasta e artista plástico Cao Guimarães apresenta um panorama de sua produção audiovisual, da videoarte ao cinema de ficção, apresentando as transformações em...Read more
-
readymade in brasil
antonio dias, cao guimarães, carlito carvalhosa, helio oiticica, marcos chaves, paulo bruscky, raul mourão 28.9.2017Entre os anos de 1960, a partir dos (pop)concretos e neoconcretos, o readymade é introduzido no Brasil e, desde então, está presente na produção de...Read more -
disco é cultura: o disco de vinil na arte contemporânea brasileira
cao guimarães, brígida baltar, antonio dias, o grivo 14.8.2017A exposição coletiva Disco é Cultura: o disco de vinil na arte contemporânea brasileira, com curadoria de Chico Dub (do Festival Novas Frequências), analisa a...Read more -
Apichatpong Weerasethakul & Cao Guimarães
cao guimarães 31.7.2017This autumn EYE is organizing a major exhibition on the work of two prominent film artists: Apichatpong Weerasethakul (1970) and Cao Guimarães (1965). Their acclaimed...Read more -
resistir, reexistir
cao guimarães 7.2.2017http://site.videobrasil.org.br/galpaovbRead more -
jaguar and eletric eels
cao guimarães 2.12.2016http://www.julia-stoschek-collection.net/en/home.htmlRead more
-
bienal de la imagen en movimiento
cao guimarães 31.10.2016http://bim.com.ar/en/profile-proyecciones/?artwork_ID=282Read more -
museu do louvre - pau brazyl
cao guimarães, laura vinci 9.9.2016https://www.facebook.com/louvrepaubrazyl/Read more -
calder e a arte brasileira
abraham palatnik, cao guimarães, hélio oiticica 6.9.2016http://www.itaucultural.org.br/programe-se/agenda/evento/exposicao-calder-e-a-arte-brasileira/Read more -
os muitos e o um: arte contemporânea brasileira
antonio dias, bruno dunley, cao guimarães, daniel senise, hélio oiticica, marcos chaves, paulo bruscky e vik muniz 26.8.2016http://www.institutotomieohtake.org.br/exposicoes/interna/os-muitos-e-o-um-arte-contemporacnea-brasileira-na-coleasapo-andrea-e-josac-olympio-pereiraRead more -
20 bienal de arte paiz | ordinario/extraordinario: la democratización del arte o la voluntad de cambiar las cosas
cao guimarães, julio le parc 19.5.2016http://20bienal.fundacionpaiz.org.gt/main/20-bienal-de-arte-paiz-2/Read more
-
the campaign for art: contemporary
cao guimarães and rivane neuenschwander 19.5.2016https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/campaign-art-contemporary/Read more -
video screenings
cao guimarães 14.3.2016https://www.uniondocs.org/about/Read more -
filmes e vídeos de artistas -- coleção itaú cultural
brígida baltar and cao guimarães 9.11.2015http://www.iberecamargo.org.br/site/exposicoes/exposicoes-detalhe.aspx?id=186Read more -
quando piso em folhas secas
marcelo silveira, o grivo, cao guimarães 29.10.2015https://www.santander.com.br/br/institucional/cultura/santander-cultural/programacao-santander-culturalRead more
Press
-
Download
View article
objet trouvé: luis pérez-oramas curates a poetic and subtle group exhibition at galeria nara roesler
cynthia garcia, Newcity Brasil 10.12.2019 -
Download
cao guimarães: documentando el sentido de lo insignificante
Adolfo Montejo, Lapiz 279 -
Download
o enigma na era do selfie
Luisa Duarte, O Globo 2.1.2017 -
Download
quando cao guimarães fechou os olhos
Audrey Furlaneto, O Globo 8.5.2015 -
Download
imagens esculpidas no tempo
Antonio Gonçalves Filho, O Estado de São Paulo 27.3.2013
Video
-
archaeologies in the present | cao guimarães and manoela medeiros
cao guimarães e manoela medeiros 23.12.2021 -
archaeologies of the selfie
curated by luis pérez-oramas 25.3.2020Archaeologies of the Selfie , curated by Luis Pérez-Oramas at Galeria Nara Roesler | New York, presents works that reflect on an important subject...Read more -
estruturas encontradas
curadoria de luis pérez-oramas 5.12.2019It is with great pleasure that Galeria Nara Roesler | São Paulo presents Estruturas Encontradas [Found Structures], a group exhibition bringing together artworks by Brígida...Read more -
depois
cao guimarães 24.4.2015 -
passatempo
cao guimarães 30.7.2012Starting on July 21, Galeria Nara Roesler will present Cao Guimarães' show Passatempo. Water -- a symbol of rebirth and an element which contains and...Read more