Grounded in a conceptual approach, Ilê Sartuzi’s practice spans sculptural and pictorial objects, moving images, mechatronic installations, situations unfolding in time and space, as well as gestures, contracts, tricks, and theatrical plays.
His works animate narratives and structural elements, often imbued with a theatrical dimension in which objects and installations perform choreographies driven by mechanical movement. More recently, Sartuzi has incorporated strategies of misdirection and sleight of hand into his practice, with a particular focus on investigating institutional infrastructures and examining issues of circulation and value within the art system, as well as the specific contexts in which each work is situated.
By holding in tension opacity and transparency, materiality and speculation, the artist seeks to render visible the operations of different systems — their internal logics and the power relations that run through them.
Sartuzi holds a BA from USP - Universidade de São Paulo (2019) and an MA from Goldsmiths, University of London (2024). He received the PIPA Prize (Brazil, 2021) and the Bienal de Artes Mediales Award (Chile, 2022). He is also one of the founders of arte_passagem, an independent space that operated in São Paulo between 2018 and 2022.
His solo exhibitions and projects include: Contrato, Luisa Strina (São Paulo, 2025); A CRIME, A CONFESSION AND A TRADE, NıCOLETTı (London, 2025); Truque, MAC-USP (São Paulo, 2025); Vaudeville, Pedro Cera (Lisbon, 2023); cabeça oca espuma de boneca, SESC Pompeia (São Paulo, 2022); A. E A de novo, auroras (São Paulo, 2021); among others.
He has participated in group exhibitions at institutions such as Kunstverein Ludwigshafen (Germany, 2025); Austrian Cultural Forum (London, 2024); Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (2021, 2023); Videobrasil (São Paulo, 2021); Museu Oscar Niemeyer (Curitiba, 2022); BIENALSUR (2021); Instituto Moreira Salles (2020); among others. His work has been featured in leading art publications and media outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, Frieze, The Art Newspaper, ArtReview, Artforum, and Folha de São Paulo, and is part of public and private collections such as the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, the moraes-barbosa collection, Instituto PIPA, Videobrasil, and the British Museum.