Francesco João (b. 1987, Milan, Italy) lives and works between São Paulo, Brazil, and Milan, Italy. He attended the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. João’s research is defined around an awareness of the conceptual aspects of painting practice, such as the procedural aspects and structures that articulate painting, declining it from time to time in its various forms. In particular, the artist explores and deepens the ambivalence of the pictorial method, emphasising the duality between the immediacy of calculated reduction and its excessive complexity. Deconstructing the pictorial gesture, the João questions its principles and means, analysing not only its basic elements, such as the canvas, but also its temporal dimension to return to the zero degrees of painting.
João recent exhibitions include SSD, Glasshouse, Gathering, London, UK (2024); Francesco João, Lola Stong-Brett, Galerie Hussenot, Paris, France (2024); Landscape for an Overview. Works from the Agovino Collection, Zurich Bank, Naples, Italy (2024); O Caminho do Meio, Marli Matsumoto, São Paulo, Brazil (2024); Seven Segment Display, Fondazione Zimei, Rome (2023); Sem título, por enquanto, Marli Matsumoto, São Paulo (2023); Cremona Contemporanea, curated by Rossella Farinotti, Palazzo Guazzoni Zaccaria, Cremona, Italy; x_minimal, curated by Friederike Nymphius, Cassina Projects, Milan (2021); 1550 San Remo Drive, Hot Wheels, Athens (2020); Francesco João, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2019); BRAZIL. Knife in the flesh, PAC – Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan (2018); Donkey Man, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2017); A Terceira Mão, curated by Erika Verzutti, Fortes D’Aloia Gabriel, São Paulo (2017) and Everything tends to ascend. Or not., Pivô, São Paulo (2016). João was awarded the Shortlisted – Ducato Prize (2023) and the Shortlisted – Dior Prize / Lady Dior As Seen By…
