Rigo 23

Rigo23’s proposals are traversed by the activism for human rights and the right to the difference of minority communities. Working on several media and using an eclectic artistic language, his conceptualism is closer to the popular than to the high culture.

The artist begins his journey in the 80s, in Lisbon, in the context of comics, fanzines and the murals of post-April 25. In the mid-80s, he goes to San Francisco, where he actively engages in the painting of murals, with connections with minority communities. This medium is one of his most characteristic forms of intervention, although the pavement, the mosaic in tile, and more recently the sculpture, are attracting him more and more. The sculptural tribute he conceived for Tommie Smith and John Carlos in San José State University, in California, or the Intergalactic Space ship exhibited at REDCAT, in Los Angeles, are good examples.

Rigo has focused his attention on artistic production forms integrated in temporary and autonomous collectives. He also has a more individual production in the field of painting, drawing, sculpture, installation and graphic production.

Several protagonists of resistance have been called into his practice. This is the case of Robert H. King, a member of the Black Panther Party, released in 2001 after 31 years of incarceration. Recently, he collaborated with Zapatista communities of southern Mexico, who have been fighting for autonomy and for the rights of indigenous peoples, and with the community of Ribeira Seca, in the Madeira Island.

CV

Solo Exhibitions (selection)

  • 2011 — Tribute to 1959, A Certain Lack of Coherence, Porto, Portugal
  • 2011 — Tate Wikikuwa Museum: Art and Struggle of Leonard Peltier, Niagara Arts and Culture Center, New York, USA
  • 2014 — Rigo 23: From the Heart of Santa Madera, Museum’s Goldenberg Galleria, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
  • 2010 — Tate Wikikuwa Museum: North America 2024, The Warehouse Gallery, Syracuse University, New York, USA
  • 2009 — The Deeper They Bury Me, The Louder My Voice Becomes, The New Museum, New York, USA
  • 2008 — Muzoos – 1968/2008, Quatro Séculos de Era Comum, Galeria 111, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2008 — Caixinha de Lenços, Galeria dos Prazeres, Madeira, Portugal
  • 2007 — Aberturas na Autoestrada, Museu de Arte Contemporâneo de Niterói, Niterói, Brazil
  • 2007 — Swim Again, Nada de Novo, Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2007 — Backtracking-199485, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, USA
  • 2006 — Peões e Passadeiras, Casa das Mudas, Madeira, Portugal
  • 2016 — Leonard Peltier - Waiting, Katzen Arts Center, Washington D.C., USA
  • 2018 — Rigo 23 - Ripples Become Waves, The Main Museum, Los Angeles, USA
  • 2017 — Autonomous InterGalactic Space Program, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, USA
  • 2020 — The Leonard Peltier Statue, Rooftop Terrace, San Francisco Art Institute, USA
  • 2014 — Kochi Tower in Belem, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2012 — Fátima na Ribeira Seca, Ribeira Seca, Portugal
  • 2013 — Moon - San Francisco - Portalegre - Lisbon - Madeira - Kochi - Chiapas, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2017 — Itacoatiara - Cicatriz de Tordesilhas, Galeria Millennium, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2020 — Globotomy, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2012 — Autonomous InterGalactic Space Program, REDCAT Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
  • 2017 — Through the Glassworks, Earth’s Oldest Satellite, Me and You, Some in the Fewture 1990 – 2017, Folkestone Triennial 2017, The Glassworks Sixth Form Centre, Kent, United Kingdom

Group Exhibitions (selection)

  • 2010, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, USA
  • 2015 — “Souls’ Landscapes” Performance , 12ª Bienal de Sharjah, Emiratos Árabes Unidos
  • 2010 — 01 SJ Biennial, San José, USA
  • 2010 — The Jerusalem Show IV, East Jerusalem/ Ramallah, Palestine
  • 2010 — To the Arts, citizens!, Museu de Serralves, Porto, Portugal
  • 2010 — Tudo o que é sólido dissolve-se no ar, Museu Berardo, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2008 — Hey Hey Glossolalia, Creative Time/The New Museum, New York, USA
  • 2008 — Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet, Museum Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, USA
  • 2007 — Portugal Agora: à propos des lieux d’origine, Musée d’Art Modern du Luxembourg, Luxembourg
  • 2006 — Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, United Kingdom
  • 2009 — Shenzhen/Hong Kong Bi-City Biennial of Urbanism and Architecture, Shenzhen, China
  • 2017 — Folkestone Triennial, Folkestone, United Kingdom
  • 2011 — The Walls that Divide Us, Apex Art, New York City, NY, USA
  • 2019 — European Dream: Works from the Norlinda and José Lima Collection, Centro de Cultura Contemporânea de Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco, Portugal
  • 2016 — We Are the Time Machines: Time and Tools for Communing, Casco Projects, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • 2015 — Anthems for the Mother Earth Goddess, Andrew Edlin Gallery, NYC, USA
  • 2013 — Autonomous Zones, Times Museum, Guangzhou, China
  • 2014 — Fertile Ground: Art and Community in California, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA, USA
  • 2018 — Ver as Vozes dos Artistas, Saco Azul Associação Cultural, Porto, Portugal
  • 2013 — The Coming Singularity!, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, USA
  • 2009 — Tenth Lyon Biennial, Lyon, France
  • 2012 — Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kerala, India
  • 2019 — Mundos Alternos, Queens Museum, New York City, USA
  • 2018 — Gaia - Todo Um Mundo, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
  • 2017 — Mundos Alternos: Art and Science Fiction in the Americas, UCR ARTSblock, Riverside, USA
  • 2011 — The Narcissism of Minor Differences, Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art, Maryland, USA
  • 2015 — Left Coast: California Political Art, James Gallery, City University of New York, NYC, USA
  • 2013 — Brazilian Customs Snafu, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, USA
  • 2014 — Tanto Mar, Centro Cultural de Belem, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2009 — Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, USA
  • 2012 — The Art of Weaving – Tradition and Modernity, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 2019 — FTP, SOMARTS, San Francisco, CA, USA
  • 2017 — TransAtlantic Art - Entre Terra e Mar, Weltkulturen, Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
  • 2015 — Retrospective, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA, USA
  • 2013 — 5th Auckland Triennial, Auckland, New Zealand
  • 2011 — Fifty Years of Bay Area Art-The SECA Awards, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
  • 2012 — Regionale XII, Murau, Austria
  • 2013 — 2nd Aichi Triennale, Nagoya, Japan
  • 2009 — 75 Years of Looking Forward, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, SF, CA, USA
  • 2017 — Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times, di Rosa - Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, California, USA
  • 2011 — Northern Spark, All My Relations Art Gallery, Minneapolis, USA
  • 2013 — A2V - A Duas Velocidades, Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas, Calheta, Portugal
  • 2012 — Streetopia, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, USA
  • 2013 — Human, Soul and Machine: The Coming Singularity, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD, USA
  • 2011 — Museu Colecção Berardo 1960-2010, Museu Berardo, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2012 — knell dobre glas, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Porto/ Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2012 — Tem calma o teu país está a desaparecer, Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon, Portugal

Awards

  • 2005, Eureka Fellowship, Fleishhacker Foundation
  • 1999 — Biennial Award, Biennial Award, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, New York
  • 1998, SECA Art Award, SFMOMA, San Francisco
  • 1994, WESTAF/NEA Regional Fellowship for Visual Artists
  • 1991, Chauncey McKeever Award, San Francisco Art Institute
  • 1997, Stoli, San Francisco Arts Achievement Award for Visual Art Residency Fellowship Award, Taiwan
  • 1996, One Tree, Best Public Art Project of the Year, San Francisco Bay Guardian
  • 2007, Howard Fellowship, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
  • 2015, Lifetime achievement, Madeira Island Government, Portugal

Collections

  • , Berardo collection, Lisbon, Portugal
  • , Museu de Arte Contemporânea do Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
  • , Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, USA
  • , Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
  • , di Rosa Preserve, Napa, USA
  • , M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, USA
  • , San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA

Works

Chiapas, 2012

Mixed media, embroidery on handmade canvas

163 x 200 cm

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Exhibitions

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