André Mendes

b. 1979, Brazil

André Mendes was born in Curitiba, 1979. He graduated in Graphic Design from the Pontificia Catholic University of Paraná and specialist in artistic drawing at the Institut Superior de Disseny y Escola de la Imatge – IDEP, Barcelona. After three years of experience in Spain, held in 2006 his first solo exhibition in Oporto – Portugal. André Mendes has many national and international exhibitions under his belt including ‘Ainda Não’, Rome; ‘Antes do Fim’, Paris; ArtStage Singapore; Art Expo Malaysia; ‘Tropikos’, Bangkok; ‘Color ow’, Barcelona; ‘Elementary’, Curitiba.

One the of most interesting aspects of his body of work is an unpretentious affirmation of a tradition genuinely born out of a kind of freedom that is almost sarcastic in the way the artist uses his skills as painter and drawer. One needs only to remember André’s many public and private murals in order to grasp his impressive technique. They are executed in both ceramics and new industrial techniques he creates and develops himself. Always aware of the many different kinds of painting styles, specific methods, scenes and tendencies in the art world today, Mendes draws, manipulates and organizes the elements in his works with such ability that it allows him a “deliberate” use of pictorial language, a natural procedure that stands between the commitment to conceptual research and a purely aesthetic experience.

At the moment his work emits delineation from flat surfaces, extending to space – the pigments in resin soaks everything around, sitting with the sculptural three-dimensionality that all want to touch & invade in its limitless expansion. The saturation is not only in colour but in chaos saturation. Architectural interventions which carry the desire to immerse what is around.

Currently lives and works in Curitiba, his research and production are focused on drawing, painting, sculpture, installations and site-specific projects. He is interested in the materiality of colour and its fluid behaviour, the inevitable force of gravity, tension and chance. His work complements with architecture, and also with other surfaces around the world.

In addition to his authorial research, he specializes in large-scale projects such as murals and sculptures. He participated with TAKSU Gallery on the prestigious commission by Khazanah and Temasek for Andaz Singapore with three large sculptures and one gargantuan mural.