Cildo Meireles is one of the most prominent figures in the international contemporary art scene. His multifaceted practice explores possibilities according to public participation, standing out for elaborating the first installative experimentations in the field of Brazilian art. Developing relations between the sensory and the cerebral and ranging in scale from the minuscule to the vast, the artist explores, as he describes, the "physical, geometrical, psychological, topographical, and anthropological".
Meireles' work makes a unique contribution to the realm of conceptual art in the country. For the artist, there is no systematic method. Each of his projects has a sort of biography, yet he acknowledges that there is something in common among many of them. His immersive works, whether sculptural, installative, or pictorial, also reflect a critical approach to the art universe itself.
In 1963, he studied with Peruvian artist Félix Barrenechea in Brasília, and lived in New York between 1971 and 1973. He has been represented by Luisa Strina since 1981, where he has held solo exhibitions that mark important inflections in his artistic practice, such as: Cildo Meireles – in the kingdom of fuck: 1964-1987 (2023); Pling Pling (2014); Glovetrotter (2010); Descalas (2003); Glovetrotter (2000); Camelô (1998); Metros I (1992); Campos de jogos (1989); Cinza (1986); Obscura luz (1983); and Artigos Definidos & Espaços Virtuais: Cantos (1981).
His work has been exhibited worldwide, including at the 37th, 50th, 51st, and 53rd Venice Biennales, Italy; the 16th, 20th, 24th, and 29th São Paulo Biennales; the 6th and 8th Istanbul Biennials, Turkey; the Lofoten International Art Festival, Norway; the 11th and 14th Lyon Biennales, France; and Documenta 9 and 11, Kassel, Germany. In 2023, Meireles was awarded the Roswitha Haftmann Prize, the most prestigious in Europe, being the first Latin American to receive it in 22 years. Among the other national and international awards he has received throughout his career are: Faz Diferença Award, O Globo (2019); ABCA Award (2015); Velázquez Prize for Visual Arts, Madrid, Spain (2008); APCA Award (2007); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, San Francisco, USA (2005); Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Paris, France (2005); among others.
He has held solo exhibitions at major institutions, among which stand out: Cildo Meireles, Museo de Arte Miguel Urrutia, Banco de la República, Bogotá, Colombia (2020); Entrevendo, SESC Pompéia, São Paulo (2019); Cildo Meireles: Installations, Hangar Bicocca, Milan, Italy (2014); Cildo Meireles, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain (2013) and Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto, Portugal (2013-2014); Ocupação Cildo Meireles, 10th Edition of the Ocupação Project, Itaú Cultural, São Paulo (2011); Cildo Meireles, MACBA, Barcelona, Spain, and Museu Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo – MUAC, Mexico City, Mexico (2009); Cildo Meireles, Tate Modern, London, UK (2008); Babel, Pinacoteca de São Paulo (2006); Occasion, Portikus im Leinwandhaus, Frankfurt, Germany (2004); Cildo Meireles, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France (2003); Cildo Meireles – retrospective, MAM-SP (2000) and MAM Rio (1999); Cildo Meireles – retrospective, New Museum, New York, USA (1999); among others.
Among his most recent group exhibitions are: Chosen Memories: Contemporary Latin American Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift and Beyond, MoMA, New York, USA (2023); Utopias e distopias, MAM-Bahia, Salvador (2022); The Source, Fondation Carmignac, Hyères, France (2019); Conjuro de ríos, Museo de Arte de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia (2018); Avenida Paulista, MASP, São Paulo (2017); Em Polvorosa, MAM-Rio, Rio de Janeiro (2016); Nous l’avons tant aimée, la revolución, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Marseille, France (2015); artevida – A citywide contemporary art exhibition, Casa França-Brasil, Rio de Janeiro (2014); among others.
Among the public collections that hold his work are: Museum of Modern Art – MoMA, New York, USA; Tate, London, UK; Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gent, Belgium; Instituto Inhotim, Brumadinho, MG; MAC – Niterói; 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan; Fundação Serralves, Porto, Portugal; MACBA, Barcelona, Spain; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto, Portugal; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany; Los Angeles County Museum of Art – LACMA, USA; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA; New Museum, New York, USA; MASP, São Paulo; MAM-SP, São Paulo; MAM-Rio, Rio de Janeiro; Pinacoteca de São Paulo.