andré griffo

André Griffo's  (b. 1979, Barra Mansa, Brazil) practice focuses on painting and its historical relationships with architectural representation. Rather than engaging in grand activist discourses, Griffo invites the viewer to pay attention to the minute details of his images, which depict the many violences that have given shape to the narratives relating to the history of Brazil and its ruins. In this sense, his canvases are complex visual archives in which the most diverse elements coexist, forming relationships that reframe and deepen the criticisms they present. Griffo's work deals with the critique of power structures, particularly the falsehoods they create to maintain control over individuals. Among these, the artist discusses the lingering effects of the economy of slavery on the historical formation of Brazil and the various mechanisms commonly used by religious institutions to subjugate their followers.

Griffo uses his background in architecture to create spaces where references to both historical and contemporary settings coexist. These spaces, usually deserted, are inhabited by traces, symbols, and signs, that highlight the permanence and influence of the past in current sociocultural issues. His production intertwines the factual and the fictional, exploring connections between the History of Art and Architecture and social issues, both Brazilian and international. By overlapping different temporalities and their complex realities, Griffo's work denounces constitutive elements of society, and testifies to the immutability of things.

André Griffo lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Recent solo exhibitions include: Voarei com as asas que os urubus me deram, at Nara Roesler (2022), in São Paulo, Brazil; Objetos sobre arquitetura gasta, at Centro Cultural São Paulo (CCSP) (2017), in São Paulo, Brazil; Intervenções pendentes em estruturas mistas, at Palácio das Artes (2015), in Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Predileção pela alegoria, at Galeria Athena (2015), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Main group shows are: Sobre os ombros de gigantes, at Nara Roesler (2021), in São Paulo, Brazil; 21ª Bienal de Arte Contemporânea SESC VídeoBrasil (2019), in São Paulo, Brazil; Intervenções, at Museu da República (2016), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Ao amor do público, at Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR) (2015), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Aparições, at Caixa Cultural (2015), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Instabilidade estável, at Paço das Artes (2013), in São Paulo, Brazil. His works are including in important institutional collections, such as: Denver Art Museum, Denver, USA; Instituto Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, Brazil; Instituto PIPA, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.