Guilherme Portela Ramalho is a Franco-Brazilian artist born in Rio de Janeiro, currently living and working in Paris, France, since 2016. He holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts de Paris-Cergy (ENSAPC), obtained in 2018. With an academic background in Industrial Design—specializing in Visual Design—he also pursued a range of art-focused courses at the Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage (EAV) in Rio de Janeiro.
Ramalho’s artistic practice has been showcased in both solo and group exhibitions. Notably, in 2015, he presented a solo exhibition at Galeria Sancovsky in São Paulo, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions across different venues, highlighting his engagement with contemporary art scenes in both Brazil and France.
Educational program
• Master of Fine Arts (Diplôme national supérieur d’expression plastique — DNSEP, BAC+5) obtained at the École nationale supérieure d'arts de Paris-Cergy (ENSAPC) in 2018.
• Painting: advanced module > Suzana Queiroga, School of Visual Arts Parque Lage, 2008.
• The Practice of Painting > Chico Cunha, School of Visual Arts, Parque Lage, 2007 and 2008.
• Painting Key Issues > Luiz Ernesto, School of Visual Arts - VAS, Parque Lage, 2007.
• Higher Degree of Industrial Design > completed in 2002 by UniverCidade in Rio de Janeiro.
Solo exhibitions
• IMINENTE , held in Sancovsky Gallery in 2015, São Paulo.
Group Exhibitions
• 21st Anapolino Art Show 2015, group exibition held in the Antônio Sibasolly Gallery, in Anápolis, Goiânia.
• PARTE FAIR , an art fair held in 2013 at USP, São Paulo.
• Arquitetura Táctil , held in 2013 in Sancovsky Gallery, Sao Paulo.
• Nail On Wall , held in 2013 in Sancovsky Gallery, Sao Paulo.
• PARTE FAIR ,held in 2012, at USP, São Paulo.
• Pintura (no parque) , held on March 26 to April 16, 2008 in Anna Maria Niemeyer Gallery, Rio de Janeiro.
• Só Você e os Outros Passam , held in 2009-2010, in the Largo of Arts Gallery, Rio de Janeiro. This collective was produced a catalog curated and Ivair Reinaldim texts.
• Só Você e os Outros Passam , held in 2009-2010, at Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro.
Awards
• 21st Anapolino Art Show 2015 Acquisition Award, offered by Antônio Sibasolly Gallery, in Anápolis, Goiânia.
Publications
• Só Você e os Outros Passam , a book published on the occasion of the homonymous exhibition in 2009 in Rio de Janeiro, curated by Suzana Queiroga and with texts from art critic Ivair Reinaldim.
Texts
IMINENTE
Released text on the occasion of the solo exhibition at Gallery Sancovsky on 26/02/2015.
"... these five paintings exhibited, it's saturated chromatic plans becomes evident in squared canvas of large formats. The lines marking the plans are the edges of objects and subjects that are treated in disproportionate and centralized compositions that can be taken by portraits, but then approaching to landscapes, or still lifes sometimes. The scrambling concerning gender in the painting is not fortuitous, as well as a creation of a "soundscape" or "landscape inside the portrait" in the artist's words. Former graphic designer, Guilherme has a great approach for architecture. "
"The series of indian-ink drawings " Planos de Fuga II ", started in 2014, evokes the old opera houses and their monumentality plants, sort of platform to another event. The indian-ink on paper is deep, it comes from the result of several layers of ink. The series about interventions in photographs is called "Materialism". The visual text of the photos is calculatedly deleted by large amounts of black ink, which mischaracterizes its original context to suggest a new image's reading, in order to reveal areas, physical spaces within each image. "
"In general, Guilherme surrounds his work in the architecture and the landscape fields. Everyday objects treated with solemnity in paintings without excessive details. end up evoking new spaces at those elements. In another way, the series on interventioned photographs, details that are not deleted by black spots that reconfigure the image and create new landscapes or architectural structures.”
Só Você e os Outros Passam
Ivair Reinaldim
Based on researches on the human figure, Guilherme Portela appropriates several images, developed by simplified drawings or color silhouettes, transposed to the canvas in layers that overlaps each other in one pictorial place. Bodies and spaces, color and line, grounds and surfaces, all merge into a multiple and changing web of narratives, actions and memories. simultaneity and moving aspects are also evident in his photographs.
CONTACT
For further information, please contact me at
guilhermeportelaramalho@gmail.com