Emmanuel Nassar

The work of Emmanuel Nassar is essentially comprised of painting and the amalgam of different media, such as canvas, wood, glass and metal plates. The artist appropriates signs and techniques including the popular and folk universes and currents in contemporary art, notably pop and concretism. With a certain irony, his work evokes notions of an industrial precariousness, which at the same time praises local solutions and criticizes its sociopolitical context.

Nassar has had the retrospective exhibitions Lataria Espacial, Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janerio, Brazil (2022); EN: 81-18, Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo, Brazil (2018); A Poesia da Gambiarra, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, Brazil (2003). He has also held various solo shows in institutions such as MAM, São Paulo, Brazil (2024 and 1998); Museu Castro Maya, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2013); Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2012); Centro Universitário Maria Antonia, São Paulo, Brazil (2009); and Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil (2003).

Emmanuel Nasssar has represented Brazil in the 45th Venice Biennale (1993) and participated in the 24th and 20th editions of the Bienal de São Paulo (1989 and 1998), and in the Panorama da Arte Atual Brasileira (1993, 1989, and 1980), at the MAM, São Paulo, Brazil. Other noteworthy group shows with Nassar include: I Bienal das Amazônias, Belém, Brazil (2023); Potência e Adversidade, Pavilhão Branco and Pavilhão Preto, Campo Grande, Lisbon, Portugal (2017); 8th Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2011); 6th Bienal Internacional de Estandartes, Tijuana, Mexico (2010); Contemporary Brazilian Photography, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany (2006); Brasil +500: Mostra do Redescobrimento, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2000); 6th Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador (1998); U-ABC, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; and the 3rd Bienal de La Habana, Cuba (1989).

His works are featured in institutional collections such as: Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York, USA, and Caracas, Venezuela; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo; MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo; Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro; Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro; Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Niterói; Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto, and Essex Collection of Art from Latin American, UK.