Alexandre da Cunha b. 1969, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Lives and works between São Paulo, Brazil, and London, England

The work of Alexandre da Cunha (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1969) is built from everyday materials and commonplace objects, often sourced from domestic or urban contexts. His practice is grounded in simple yet precise gestures, rather than relying on complex technical transformations. Through an experimental approach to the mundane, his work values presence and attentive observation of the environment, aiming to dissolve hierarchies between materials and subvert expectations of aesthetic experience.

His process involves the juxtaposition and combination of elements with distinct origins and purposes. Items such as brushes, squeegees, belts, bottles, and even concrete drums or cement mixers are reorganized into sculptural compositions—spatial collages—that extract new formal and symbolic relationships from these objects. In doing so, his work proposes dialogues across different cultural scales: from urban life to popular traditions, from decorative arts to modernism, producing contrasts that reveal social, economic, and material tensions. His practice thus establishes a fertile ground for investigation between art and culture, and has become recognized for its critical power and formal precision.

Recent solo exhibitions include: Travessia, Luisa Strina, São Paulo, Brazil (2024); Thomas Dane Gallery, London, UK and Italy (2023); Duplex, Brighton CCA, Brighton, UK (2021); Alexandre da Cunha: Figurehead II, The Box, Plymouth, UK (2022); Portal, Luisa Strina, São Paulo, Brazil (2020); Thomas Dane, Naples, Italy (2020); Duologue – with Phillip King, The Royal Society of Sculptors, London, UK (2018); Boom, Pivô, São Paulo, Brazil (2017); Mornings, Office Baroque, Brussels, Belgium (2017); Free Fall, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, UK (2016); Amazons, CRG Gallery, New York (2015); Real, Luisa Strina, São Paulo, Brazil (2015).

Among his public art commissions are works for Art on the Underground at Battersea Power Station, Northern Line Extension, London, UK (2021); for Samuels & Associates, Pierce Boston Collection, Boston, USA (2017); for MCA Chicago, USA, part of the Plaza Project (2015); and for the Rochaverá Corporate Towers in São Paulo, Brazil (2015).

Recent group exhibitions include: Material Worlds: Contemporary Artists and Textiles, Warwick Arts Center, Coventry, UK (2024); Each now, is the time, the space, Lismore Castle Arts, Lismore, Ireland (2023); Obscura luz, Luisa Strina, São Paulo, Brazil (2022); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (2022); Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2020, South London Gallery, London, UK (2021); A máquina do mundo: Arte e indústria no Brasil 1901–2021, Pinacoteca de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2021); MECARÕ. Amazonia in the Petitgas Collection, Montpellier Contemporain, Montpellier, France (2020); Making It, The Box, Plymouth, UK (2020); Contemporary Sculpture Fulmer, Buckinghamshire village of Fulmer, UK (2019); Everyday Poetics, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA (2017); Histórias da Sexualidade, MASP, São Paulo, Brazil (2017); Soft Power, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, USA (2016); Brazil, Beleza?! Contemporary Brazilian Sculpture, Museum Beelden aan Zee, The Hague, Netherlands (2016); British Art Show 8, Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds, UK (2015).

His work is part of several public and private collections, including: Tate Modern, London, UK; Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Inhotim Institute, Brumadinho, Brazil; CIFO Cisneros Collection, Miami, USA; Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil; and FAMA Museum, Itu, Brazil.