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Paulo Monteiro
Selected works

● Paulo Monteiro

Selected works

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Paulo Monteiro
News

Paulo Monteiro at PACE, New York

UNDEFINED INCLUSIONS

PACE, New York, United States of America
September 15 - October 28, 2023

ZENO X GALLERY - Paulo Monteiro at PACE, New York

Paulo Monteiro at Galeria do Instituto Ling, Porto Alegre

LINHA DO CORPO

Galeria do Instituto Ling, Porto Alegre, Brazil
April 4 - June 17, 2023

ZENO X GALLERY - Paulo Monteiro at Galeria do Instituto Ling, Porto Alegre

Paulo Monteiro at Leienpaleis, Antwerp

ANTWERP UNIVERSAL

Leienpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium
February 16, 2022 - October 16, 2022

ZENO X GALLERY - Paulo Monteiro at Leienpaleis, Antwerp

Paulo Monteiro at Casa de Cultura do Parque, São Paulo

DE TERRA E GÁS

Casa de Cultura do Parque, São Paulo, Brazil
November 27, 2021 - March 13, 2022

ZENO X GALLERY - Paulo Monteiro at Casa de Cultura do Parque, São Paulo

● Paulo Monteiro

News

Paulo Monteiro
Biography

Paulo Monteiro, b. 1961 in São Paulo (BR), lives and works in São Paulo (BR).

Paulo Monteiro’s oeuvre consists of drawings, paintings and sculptures with the line as their main theme. He explores the possibilities of the line as an organic and dynamic but also controlled principle. It forms, as it were, the trace of a choreography, and a parallel can indeed be drawn between his oeuvre and classical ballet. In addition, the line also functions as a boundary that demarcates zones. In his paintings, he pushes the paint forward with his fingers, causing it to pile up and create edges. He treats paint as a material rather than a colour. He moulds his sculptures as three-dimensional lines, folding, connecting and cutting them. The relation to the surrounding space is of elementary importance, as is the spatial relation between the different media when they are combined – often playfully – on the wall.

Another important aspect is the principle of gravity. On the one hand, the entire space is subject to it, and its effect is tangible in his sculptures especially. The heavy bronze and aluminium objects are pulled towards the ground. On the other hand, Monteiro plays with this fact through his use of colour. The light, sweet colours seem to relieve the objects of their weight.

In 1982 Paulo Monteiro set up Casa 7, an artist collective and venue that functioned as a studio and exhibition space. It brought together a whole generation of artists who wanted to offer an alternative to the (Neo-)Concrete Art that was ubiquitous and that focused mainly on rigid, geometric compositions and less on the organic, expressive line.

His works are included in the permanent collections of MoMA (New York), Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Museum of Contemporary Art of São Paulo, Modern Art Museum of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói Contemporary Art Museum.

Paulo Monteiro joined the gallery in 2017.

● Paulo Monteiro

Biography

Paulo Monteiro
Photo
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Jan De Maesschalck, Paulo Monteiro, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle
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Square
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 06.05 - 24.06 2023
Jan De Maesschalck, Paulo Monteiro, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle
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Square
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 06.05 - 24.06 2023
Jan De Maesschalck, Paulo Monteiro, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle
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Square
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 06.05 - 24.06 2023
Jan De Maesschalck, Paulo Monteiro, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle
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Square
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 06.05 - 24.06 2023
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Jan De Maesschalck, Paulo Monteiro, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle
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Square
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 06.05 - 24.06 2023
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Paulo Monteiro
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The Middle Distance
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp Borgerhout | 09.11 - 17.12 2022
Paulo Monteiro
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The Middle Distance
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp Borgerhout | 09.11 - 17.12 2022
Paulo Monteiro
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The Middle Distance
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp Borgerhout | 09.11 - 17.12 2022
Paulo Monteiro
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The Middle Distance
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp Borgerhout | 09.11 - 17.12 2022
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Paulo Monteiro
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The Middle Distance
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp Borgerhout | 09.11 - 17.12 2022
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● The Middle Distance

 

We are pleased to announce a new solo exhibition by Paulo Monteiro, four years after his first exhibition at Zeno X Gallery.

As a young artist in São Paulo in the 1980s, Paulo Monteiro was fascinated by comics, cartoons and underground magazines from the US. Another important source of inspiration were the paintings of Philip Guston, an American artist who incorporated cartoonish figures into his works and who is seen as one of the forefathers of neo-expressionism. Although Paulo Monteiro’s current practice seems far removed from Philip Guston’s figurative paintings, Guston’s humour and strongly delineated contours are an enduring influence.

In 1982 Paulo Monteiro was one of the co-founders of Casa 7, an artist collective and venue that functioned as a studio and exhibition space. Casa 7 brought together a generation of artists who wanted to offer an alternative to the (neo-)concrete art that was ubiquitous in Brazil and that focused mainly on rigid geometric compositions. Around this time, Paulo Monteiro created large paintings with an emphatic focus on the organic, expressive line as well as sculptures using residual materials such as wood, iron rods and rope.

Paulo Monteiro’s oeuvre consists of drawings, paintings and sculptures. The artist’s main theme is the line. He has a penchant for flowing lines that seek out the edges of the canvas. In his paintings, he pushes the paint forward with his fingers, causing it to accumulate and create borders. In this respect, he treats paint as a material rather than a colour. His sculptures are placed on the ground without a plinth. They lean against or hang on the wall and can be read as the three-dimensional contours of a painting. He moulds his sculptures like lines. They are folded, connected and cut, and he lets gravity do its work. The use of colour plays a major role in this: the light, sweet colours seem to strip the bronze sculptures of their weight.

The relation of his works to the surrounding space is of elementary importance, as is the spatial relation between the different media when they are combined on the wall, often in a playful manner. The works have individual qualities and stand alone, but also function when grouped together. Different configurations are possible in which all elements are considered of equal value.

In 2014 MoMA (New York) acquired a large group of works by Paulo Monteiro, including drawings, gouaches, sculptures and paintings. His work has been shown in exhibitions at Pinacoteca do Estado (São Paulo), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Lévy Gorvy (New York), Mendes Wood DM, Pace Gallery (New York) and Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon). He has twice participated in the São Paulo Art Biennial, in 1985 and 1994.

N. Dash, Jan De Maesschalck, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Kees Goudzwaard, Susan Hartnett, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Naoto Kawahara, Martin Margiela, Philip Metten, Paulo Monteiro, Jockum Nordström, Marina Rheingantz, Pietro Roccasalva, Grace Schwindt, Jenny Scobel, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Jack Whitten
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40 Years Zeno X Gallery - the two-thousands
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 24.09 - 12.11 2022
N. Dash, Jan De Maesschalck, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Kees Goudzwaard, Susan Hartnett, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Naoto Kawahara, Martin Margiela, Philip Metten, Paulo Monteiro, Jockum Nordström, Marina Rheingantz, Pietro Roccasalva, Grace Schwindt, Jenny Scobel, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Jack Whitten
Read more
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40 Years Zeno X Gallery - the two-thousands
|
Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 24.09 - 12.11 2022
N. Dash, Jan De Maesschalck, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Kees Goudzwaard, Susan Hartnett, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Naoto Kawahara, Martin Margiela, Philip Metten, Paulo Monteiro, Jockum Nordström, Marina Rheingantz, Pietro Roccasalva, Grace Schwindt, Jenny Scobel, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Jack Whitten
Read more
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40 Years Zeno X Gallery - the two-thousands
|
Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 24.09 - 12.11 2022
N. Dash, Jan De Maesschalck, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Kees Goudzwaard, Susan Hartnett, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Naoto Kawahara, Martin Margiela, Philip Metten, Paulo Monteiro, Jockum Nordström, Marina Rheingantz, Pietro Roccasalva, Grace Schwindt, Jenny Scobel, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Jack Whitten
Read more
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40 Years Zeno X Gallery - the two-thousands
|
Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 24.09 - 12.11 2022
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

N. Dash, Jan De Maesschalck, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Kees Goudzwaard, Susan Hartnett, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Naoto Kawahara, Martin Margiela, Philip Metten, Paulo Monteiro, Jockum Nordström, Marina Rheingantz, Pietro Roccasalva, Grace Schwindt, Jenny Scobel, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Jack Whitten
Read more
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40 Years Zeno X Gallery - the two-thousands
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 24.09 - 12.11 2022
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Paulo Monteiro
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Colors without a place
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Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | 11.05 - 04.06 2022
Paulo Monteiro
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Colors without a place
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Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | 11.05 - 04.06 2022
Paulo Monteiro
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Colors without a place
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Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | 11.05 - 04.06 2022
Paulo Monteiro
Read more
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Colors without a place
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Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | 11.05 - 04.06 2022
exhibition

● Solo exhibition

Paulo Monteiro
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Colors without a place
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Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | 11.05 - 04.06 2022
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Paulo Monteiro
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The Empty Side
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Zeno X Gallery | 15.09 - 13.10 2018
Paulo Monteiro
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The Empty Side
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Zeno X Gallery | 15.09 - 13.10 2018
Paulo Monteiro
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The Empty Side
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Zeno X Gallery | 15.09 - 13.10 2018
Paulo Monteiro
Read more
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The Empty Side
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Zeno X Gallery | 15.09 - 13.10 2018
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Paulo Monteiro
Read more
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The Empty Side
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Zeno X Gallery | 15.09 - 13.10 2018
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● The Empty Side

 

Zeno X Gallery is pleased to present a first solo exhibition by the Brazilian artist Paulo Monteiro in Antwerp. The Empty Side brings together a new body of paintings and sculptures.

Paulo Monteiro was born in 1961 in São Paulo, where he still lives and works. He grew up in a large family with parents who specialized in history and histology and in an environment bathed in music, literature and art. Politics were complex, especially after the military coup of 1964, which ushered in a dictatorial regime in Brazil that lasted until 1985. Monteiro first crossed the country’s border in 1982 for a month-long trip to Europe, where he visited Paris and Düsseldorf, as well as several Italian cities.

Under the influence of Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton, who published comics in underground magazines in the 1960s in the US, Monteiro started drawing comics too. These would appear in magazines that did not have a license to exist and to be sold such as Boca, Papagaio, Almanak & Makongo. In this way he became part of an artistic underground scene in São Paulo. After graduating from the College of Fine Arts in São Paulo Monteiro co-founded Casa 7, a collective of artists that was based in a house with the number 7 in São Paulo. The house functioned as both a studio and exhibition platform from 1982 until 1985. They shared a mutual desire to paint with a focus on exploring the materiality of painting.

Casa 7 connected a whole generation of writers, film-makers, musicians and other artists. This had a major impact on a new artistic generation in Brazil. In these years Paulo Monteiro made large paintings that were loaded by many layers of paint.

Towards the late 1980s Paulo Monteiro’s interest shifted towards sculpture. He started collecting materials that had been rejected by their owners such as wooden planks, iron bars and ropes. Through a search for composition, he assembled parts into a harmonious unity. It was a process of cutting, bending, connecting, searching for balance and experimenting with gravity. The sculptures touched the floor or the wall without any intermediary. Soon a desire for liquidity, fluidity and movement entered his practice. He focused on drawing lines that travelled in their destined space with an attraction to the borders. The identity of the line was irregular, playful, elegant, soft, unique, personal and directed by the hand of the artist. The line could turn into a shape or three-dimensional form. Around 2005 he integrated colour in his gouaches and later in his sculptures. The space at borders, between layers or inside a mass is of great meaning to Paulo Monteiro. His works find their existence between painting and sculpture. Every element in his oeuvre is equally important to him no matter the size, the medium or the choice of display. There is no room for hierarchy.

Since 2014 twelve works by Paulo Monteiro have been acquired by MoMA in New York. More works can be found in public collections, among others in the Museu de Arte Moderna in São Paulo, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and the Museu de Arte Contemporanea Niteroi in Rio de Janeiro. His work has been included in group shows at the Pinacoteca do Estado in São Paulo, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in Paris and Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, among many others. He has twice been invited to the Biennial of São Paulo, in 1985 and 1994. 

● Paulo Monteiro

CV

Paulo Monteiro
CV
Download full CV

Zeno X Gallery exhibitions

2022
2018

Selected solo exhibitions

2023
Linha do Corpo, Galeria do Instituto Ling, Porto Alegre, Brazil
2022
2021
Paulo Monteiro: The Two Sides of An Empty Line, Lévy Gorvy, New York, United States of America
2020
A red of blood and fire and some everyday works, Misako & Rosen, Tokyo, Japan
2019
New Works, Mendes Wood, New York, United States of America
2017
The outside of distance, MISAKO & ROSEN and Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Paulo Monteiro, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brazil
2016
The inside of distance, Office Baroque, Brussels, Belgium
2015
The inside of distance, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brazil
2013
Paulo Monteiro, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brazil
2012
Coisa Superfície, Centro Universitário Mariantonia, São Paulo, Brazil
2010
Misturado, Carlos Carvalho Galeria de Arte, Lisbon, Portugal
2008
Paulo Monteiro, Marília Razuk Galeria de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil
Paulo Monteiro, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
2003
Gravuras, Marília Razuk Galeria de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil
Paulo Monteiro, Alpendre, Fortaleza, Brazil
2000
Paulo Monteiro, Marília Razuk Galeria de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil
1994
Paulo Monteiro, Marília Razuk Galeria de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil
1993
Desenhos, Pinturas e Esculturas, Paulo Figueiredo Galeria de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil
1990
Esculturas e Desenhos, Paulo Figueiredo Galeria de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil
1989
Desenhos, Galeria Macunaíma, Funarte, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1987
Esculturas, Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, Brazil
1982
Gravuras em metal, SESC São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Selected group exhibitions

2023
Esfíngico Frontal, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brazil
2022
Calor Universal, Pace Gallery, New York, United States of America
2021
De Terra e Gás, Casa de Cultura do Parque, São Paulo, Brazil
Antwerp Universal, Leienpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium
Horizons, Lévy Gorvy, New York, United States of America
2020
Paloma Bosquê | Cristiano Lenhardt | Paulo Monteiro | Nuno Ramos, Fortes d'Aloia & Gabriel, Lisbon, Portugal
2017
Coleção MAC Niterói: arte contemporânea no Brasil, MAC Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
FORMASOBREFONDO, Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City, Mexico
Building Material: Process And Form In Brazilian Art, Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles, United States of America
2015
Uma Coleção Particular – Arte Contemporânea No Acervo da Pinacoteca, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Deserto-Modelo, as above, so below, Herald ST, London, United Kingdom
Empty House Casa Vazia, Luhring Augustine, New York, United States of America
Casa 7, Pivô, São Paulo, Brazil
2014
Paintings on Paper, David Zwirner, New York, United States of America
Where Were You, Lisson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Arbeit Und Freundschaft, Pivô, São Paulo, Brazil
2013
30 × Bienal – Transformations in Brazilian Art from the 1st to 30th Edition, Bienal Pavilion, São Paulo, Brazil
Betão a vista, Museu Brasileiro de escultura, São Paulo, Brazil
2008
MAM 60, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
2007
80/90, Instituto Cultural Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil
Coleção Itaú Contemporâneo, Centro Cultural Itaú, São Paulo, Brazil
2006
Projeto Parede, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
2004
Onde Está Você Geração 80?, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2003
2080, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
2002
Tangenciando Amílcar, Espaço Cultural Santander, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Lucio Fontana: A Ótica do Invisível, Fundação Lucio Fontana, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil
2001
O Espírito da Nossa Época, Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil
, Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
O Espelho Cego, coleção Marcantonio Villaça, Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil
2000
Itinerante Brasil 500 Anos-Mostra do Redescobrimento, Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
1997
5th Cuenca Biennial, Cuenca, Ecuador
1995
Arte Brasileira: confronto e contrastes, Pavilhão Internacional Octávio Cesário Pereira Júnior, Londrina, Brazil
Entre o Desenho e a Escultura, Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil
Anos 80 - O Palco da Diversidade, Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1994
Bienal Brasil Século XX, Biennale of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
22th Biennale of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
1993
4th Santos Biennial: Artes Visuais, Santos, Brazil
1990
Panorama de Arte Atual Brasileira - Papel, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
1989
Brasil, La Nueva Generación, Fundação Museu de Belas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
1987
Modernité, Musée d’Art Moderne de La Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Modernité, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
1986
2nd Cuba Biennial, Havana, Cuba
1985
Casa 7, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Casa 7, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
18th Biennale of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Public collections

Biblioteca Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States of America
Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Museu de Arte de Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil
Museu de Arte Contemporânea, São Paulo, Brazil
Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Pinacoteca Municipal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Press

“Paulo Monteiro at the Zeno X Gallery in Antwerp, Belgium”
Wsimag.com, article by Elena Vergara Meersohn Rayan (online)
October 2018

“Paulo Monteiro in conversation with Adriano Costa”
Flash Art, article by Bruno Dunley (online)
April 2015

“Routine and adventure”
Article by Paulo Venancio Filho

Paulo Monteiro
Books
Paulo Monteiro: O Interior da distância

Editora de Livros Cobogo Ltda.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2015
208 pages, ISBN 9788560965861

Editora de Livros Cobogo Ltda.<br />Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2015<br />208 pages, ISBN 9788560965861
Paulo Monteiro

Cosac Naify
Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2009
216 pages, ISBN 9788575037621

Cosac Naify<br />Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2009<br />216 pages, ISBN 9788575037621
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● Paulo Monteiro

Books