MULAMBÖ

Born João in 1995, the artist grew up as MULAMBÖ in Praia da Vila, in the city of Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, where he still lives and works. In his practice, he draws from symbols and materials of everyday life, seeking to create a new “foundation” for the narratives that shape people’s lives. Football, Carnival, his family, and the stories that have built the ground where he lives emerge in his research and practice through paintings, objects, flags, and installations, highlighting the idea that he creates art to affirm that “there is no museum in the world like our grandmother’s house.”

Mulambö presented his works in two critically acclaimed solo shows in Rio de Janeiro in 2019: “Tudo Nosso“, at MAR – Museu de Arte do Rio, and “Prato de Pedreiro“, at Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica. In 2020, he presented his first solo exhibition in São Paulo, at Sesc-Santana. In 2021, he presented “Mulambö all in gold”, his first solo show at Portas Vilaseca Galeria. In the same year, he was selected to exhibit for the first time outside Brazil, at the Das Schaufenster space, in Seattle (USA), where he presented the solo show “Out of many, muchos más”; and also at Haus der Kunst, in Munich (Germany), in the group exhibition “SWEAT”, curated by Anna Schneider and Raphael Fonseca. In 2022, he was commissioned to develop the series of paintings “O couro come” for the Inhotim Institute, in Minas Gerais; and also the installation “O penhor dessa igualdade“, within the Centro Cultural São Paulo Exhibition Program, in São Paulo.

His works are part of important Brazilian collections, including: Museu de Arte do Rio – MAR (Rio de Janeiro, RJ); Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo, SP), The Ingá Museum (Niterói, RJ) and Inhotim Institute (Brumadinho, MG).