João Penalva

João Penalva

(Lisbon, 1949) Lives and works in London
João Penalva began his artistic career in the field of contemporary dance (1968-1976), where he also joined the Pina Bausch company (1973-74) and Gerhard Bohner (1975). In 1976 develops The Moon Dance Company, with Jean Pomares. In the same year began his career as an artist. Between 1976 and 1981 took a BA and a MFA, with a scholarship from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to Chelsea School of Art (1976-1981) in London, a place which became his permanent residence since.
Initially began with painting in the 80s From the 90s his work is mainly dedicated to the installation, film and photography. The subject of his work relates to the communication process, the archive or memory, explored from a formal and theoretical perspective in complex narratives. Since 2002, is a professor at the Academy of Art Malmö, Lund University in Sweden.
Exhibits regularly in Portugal and abroad. He exhibited at the Biennale of Melbourne (1999), Berlin (2001) and Sydney (2002), but also in the Gallery of Modern Art, SNBA (1983), Cooperative Arts in Porto (1984), CAM, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon ( 1990), the CCB, Lisbon (1999), at the Camden Arts Centre, London (2000), Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius (2000), Institute of Visual Arts, Milwaukee (2003), Serralves Museum, Porto (2005), Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2006), Lunds Konsthall, Lund (2010). In 2011 does a retrospective exhibition called “Trabalhos com texto e imagem”, at the Modern Art Centre of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and another in 2012 in Brandts Kunsthallen in Denmark. His most recent exhibitions include: João Penalva at Filomena Soares Gallery, Lisbon (2014); João Penalva, at Simon Lee Gallery, London (2015).

He represented Portugal at the XXIII International Biennial of São Paulo in 1996 and XLIX Venice Biennale in 2001. Between 2003 and 2004 he was a guest artist of the DAAD residency program in Berlin. In 2009 won the Bryan Robertson Award, one of the most important distinctions within the contemporary art.

His work is represented in various national and international collections such as: Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art, FRAC Collection, Berardo Collection, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Serralves Foundation, PMLJ Foundation, Leal Rios, Ministry Culture, Chiado Museum, Fundación ARCO, Galician Centre of Contemporary Art, Arts Council England, South London Gallery, Musee d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art.