thiago barbalho

Artist and writer Thiago Barbalho (b. 1984, Natal, Brazil) found in drawing a mode of expression that he understands as overcoming the obsolescence of the word. Working across different dimensions—sculpture, drawing, painting, and site-specific installation—and with a wide range of materials, his compositions bring before the viewer intricate universes in which forms and colors intertwine and overlap in fragmented narratives capable of dissolving the relationship between figure and ground. Barbalho understands drawing as a philosophical category that traverses eras, languages, and cultures. His visual research sees in drawing the trace of a presence and of the relationship between the mind—imagination—and the body—gesture—, between consciousness and reality. 

Thiago Barbalho lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil. Recent solo exhibitions include: Fominha, at Nara Roesler (2025), in São Paulo, Brazil;Chants, at Elizabeth XI Bauer (2025), in London, UK; Segredos e Feitiços, at Nara Roesler (2024), in São Paulo, Brazil;Depois que entra ninguém sai, at Nara Roesler (2022), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2022); Correspondência, at Galeria Marília Razuk (2019), in São Paulo, Brazil; Thiago Barbalho, at Kupfer Project Space (2018), in London, United Kingdom (2018).

Main group shows are: Phantom Dance: Thiago Barbalho and Theodore Ereira Guyer, at Elizabeth XI Bauer (2023),  in London, UK; Mapa da estrada: Novas obras no acervo da Pinacoteca de São Paulo, at Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (2022), in São Paulo, Brazil; Electric Dreams, at Nara Roesler (2021), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; AVAF, at Casa Triângulo (2018), in São Paulo, Brazil; Rocambole, at Pivô (2018), in São Paulo, Brazil, and at Kunsthalle Lissabon (2019), in Lisbon, Portugal; Voyage, at Galeira Bergamin & Gomide (2017), in São Paulo, Brazil; Shadows & Monsters, at Gasworks (2017), in London, United Kingdom.

His works are part of institutional collections such as Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Instituto Paz, Brumadinho, Brazil and Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil