MIGUEL RIO BRANCO
Miguel Rio Branco’s work cuts across the worlds of cinema, photography, photojournalism, and social and political criticism. His work focuses on life on the edges of society with a realistic yet emotive sense of purpose, sometimes related to the Latin American context and Brazil as a complex society defining its own identity.
Referencing genre scenes and western art history, he is known for his use of color, richness and complexity of his subject matter, as well as the perceived darkness of his installations, films and photographic work.
Miguel Rio Branco lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His photographs and films are included in such esteemed collections as the Centre Georges Pompidou, the SFMoMA, the Walker Art Center and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His photography has been awarded the 1980 Great Prize of the First Triennale of Photography of the Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, and the 1982 Kodak de la Critique Photographique Award, Paris. He has had numerous one person and group shows internationally, including his most recent
exhibitions, Out of Nowhere, a retrospective survey with nine installations at the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands, and Dislecsia at the Noorderlicht Photogallery also in Groninger. Miguel Rio Branco has been a correspondent for Magnum since 1980 and his work has been published in magazines such as Aperture, National Geographic and Photo Magazine. Recently, Rio Branco has helped to illustrate, along with Mary Ellen Mark, Patrick Bard and Graciela Iturbide, the book Babel: A Film by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, which companions the release of the major motion picture.
Born 1946 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Education
1968 Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1966 New York Institute of Photography, New York, NY
Solo Exhibitions 2014
Pinacoteca, São Paulo, Brazil
Miguel Rio Branco: Gritos Surdos, Casa França-Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2012
La mécanique des femmes 1, Galeria Silvia Cintra, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Exposição Porto Alegre, Santander Cultural, Brazil
La mécanique des femmes 2, Galeria André Milan, São Paulo Brazil 2011
Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
Jazz, Centro Cultural e Turístico do Sistema Fiemg, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil Sem Texto, Galeria Zoom de Fotografia, Paraty, RJ, Brazil
2010
Montagem do Pavilhão, Miguel Rio Branco, Inhotim-Instituto de Arte Contemporânea e Jardim Botânico, Brumadinho, MG, Brazil
Maldicidades- Marco Zero, Museu da Imagem e do Som, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Miguel Rio Branco, Paulo Darzé Galeria de Arte, Salvador, BA, Brazil
2009
Divagações de um Fugu Delirante, Silvia Cintra Galeria de Arte, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Miguel Rio Branco: Divagações de um Fugu Delirante, Galeria Millan, São Paulo, SP, Brzil 2008
Photos Volées, Galerie 1900-2000, Paris, France Dislecsia, Casa de América, Madrid, Spain
Out of Nowhere, Groningen Museum, Groningen, Netherlands
Floating Darkness, Chochouin Buddhist Temple Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 2007
I WON’T TAKE ANYTHING WITH ME WHEN I DIE, THOSE WHO OWE ME SOMETHING WILL PAY ME IN HELL., Christopher Grimes Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2006
Out of Nowhere, Groningen Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands 2004
Homenagem a Goeldi, Christopher Grimes Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Miguel Rio Branco, Galeria Oliva Arauna, Madrid, Spain
2003
Door into Darkness, Aperture’s Burden Gallery, New York, NY Nakta, FNAC, Paris – Montparnasse, France
Foto Arte Brasília, Espaço Cultural Contemporaneo Venancio, Brasília, Brazil 2002
Teoria da Cor, Galeria André Millan, São Paulo, Brazil Fast Flash Backs, Galerie 1900-2000, Paris, France
Objetos Diretos, Galeria Paulo Fernandes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2001
Galeria Oliva Arauna, Madrid, Spain
Between the eyes the desert, D'Amelio Terras, New York, NY Miguel Rio Branco, Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Venice, Italy Entre los ojos, Centro Cultural de la Villa, Madrid, Spain Gritos Surdos, Centro Portugues de Fotografia, Porto, Portugal 2000
Pele do Tempo, Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Photographs, William Benton Museum, Storrs, Connecticut, EUA Nature presque Mort, Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France Door into Darkness, Hellenic American Union, Athens, Greece Miguel Rio Branco, Patrick De Brock Gallery, Knokke, Belgium Entre los Ojos, Fundació La Caixa, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Entre los Ojos, Centro Insular de Cultura, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Entre los Ojos, Sala de Exposiciones Alameda, Málaga, Spain
Entre los Ojos, Colexio de Fonseca, Santiago de Compostela, Spain 1999
Silent Book, Galeria Módulo, Lisbon, Portugal
Nakta, Rena Bransten Gallery San Francisco, CA
Entre los Ojos, Fundación La Caixa, Fundación La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain Sketches of Fear, D’Amelio Terras, New York, NY
1998
Galeria Camargo Vilaça, São Paulo, Brazil Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France London Projects, London, UK
Galeria Oliva Arauna, Madrid, Spain 1997
Between the eyes, the desert. In Site 97, San Diego, CA Nakta, D’Amelio Terras Gallery, New York, NY 1996
Agathe Gaillard Gallery, in Mois de la Photo, Paris, France Santa Rosa, Throckmorton Fine Art Gallery, New York, NY
Nakta (including installations: Small reflexions on a certain bestiality and Out of Nowhere), Casa Vermelha, I Bienal Internacional de Fotografia da Cidade de Curitiba, Paraná (book publised by Fundação Cultural de Curitiba) Galeria Joel Edelstein Arte Contemporânea, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Out of Nowhere, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (three installations: Dialogues with Amaú, Out of Nowhere 2, Door into Darkness)
Out of Nowhere, Foto Forum, Frankfurt, Germany 1995
Galeria Luisa Strina
Out of Nowhere, IFA Gallery, Sttutgart, Germany (catalog published) 1993
Centro de estudios Romulo Gallegos, Caracas Space Archide, Paris, France
Galerie Agathe Gaillard, Paris, France 1992
Stadtliche Galerie Tuttlingen, Berlin, Germany 1991
Foto Forum Frankfurt, Germany IFA Gallery Bonn (catalog published)
Petites réflexions sur une certaine bestialité, Chapelle St. Jean de Moustier, Rencontres d’Arles, France 1990
Drawings and Paintings, Espaço Sergio Porto, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1989
Paintings, Galeria Saramenha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1988
Heart Mirror of Flesh, Pallazo Fortuny, Venice (catalog published by Idea Books)
1987
Coração Espelho da Carne (photographs), Fotoptica, São Paulo, Brazil Coração Espelho da Carne, FUNARTE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1986
Foto Sequências (photographs), Fotogaleria Teatro San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1985
Coração espelho da carne (photographs), Magnum Gallery, Paris, France
Coração espelho da carne, Burden Gallery, Aperture Foundation, New York, NY Coração espelho da carne, Fotogaleria FUNARTE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1982
Fotografias, Gabinete de Cultura, Bilbao, Spain 1980
Nada levarei qundo morrer aqueles que mim deve cobrarei no inferno (photographs and audio-visual), Galeria Fotoptica, São Paulo, Brazil
Nada levarei qundo morrer aqueles que mim deve cobrarei no inferno, Fotogaleria FUNARTE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1979
Negativo Sujo (photographs), Theater Castro Alves, Salvador Negativo Sujo, Núcleo de Arte Contemporânea, João Pessoa Negativo Sujo, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 1978
Negativo Sujo (photographs), Escola de Artes Visuais, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1977
Photographs, Ipanema Gallery, Tel Aviv 1974
Photographs, Galeria Grupo B, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1972
Films and Photographs, Veste Sagrada, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1967
Drawings, Galeria Relevo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1966
Paintings, Columbia University, New York, NY 1964
Paintings and drawings, Gallerie Anlikerkeller, Bern, Switzerland Group Exhibitions
2015
34th Panorama of Brazilian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, São Paulo, Brazil
Imagine Reality, MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Fotographieprojekte Frankfurt, Interational Photography Triennial
Made in Brazil, Casa Daros, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2010
Inhotim’s 2010 Inagural Event, The Inhotim Institute, Minas Gerais, Brazil 2005
Artistas de Galeria Millan Antonio na 5 Bienal do Mercosul, Galeria Millan Antonio, Sao Paulo, Brazil Piscinas, Galeria Silvia Cintra, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Arte Para 2005, Fundacao Romulo Maiorana, Belem, Para, Brazil Espelho Meu, Centro Cultural Belem, Portugal
Gritos Surdos, Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil 2004
25th Anniversary, The L.A. Years, Part II, Christopher Grimes Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Quito Biennale, Quito Equador
Brazil Body Nostalgia, The National Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan 2003
Revisitar Canárias, Centro de Arte La Regenta, Las Palmas Gran Canaria, Galeria Elba Benítez, Madrid
Beauty, the Beast, The Art Institute of Boston, Boston Calcio di Rigore, Scuderie del Palazzo Santacroce, Roma Arte em Movimento, Galeria BNDS, Rio de Janeiro Bzzzz, Silvia Cintra Galeria de Arte, Rio de Janeiro 2002
Violência e Paixão, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, curadoria de Ligia Canongia
Mundos Credos, Fotogalerie n■5, Nederland La Mirada, Daros Exhibitions, Zurich 2001
Brazil Body and Soul, Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY The Thread Unraveled, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
Virgin Territory, The National Museum of Woman for the Arts, Washington, DC Bienal 50 anos, Fundação Bienal, São Paulo, Brazil
2000
Mostra Brasil +500, Módulo de Arte Contemporânea, São Paulo, Brazil
Two Brazilian Photographers: Miguel Rio Branco and Mario Cravo Neto, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA
1999
Biennal of Contemporary Art, Tate Gallery, Liverpool, UK Magnum 50 Ans, Paris, France
Carnaval, Museo Extremeño de Arte Contemporâneo, Badajoz Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
1998
AMNESIA, Track 16 / Christopher Grimes Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; traveled to Contemporary Art Museum, University of South
Florida, Tampa, FL; Contemporary Art Center, OH; Biblioteca Luis Angel, Arango, Bogotá; The Bronx Museum, NY; LUMO 98, Jyvaskila, Finland
Mysterious Voyages, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD Exterminating Angel, Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France
The Garden of the Forking Paths, Kunstforenningen Copenhagen, Oslo and Helsinki Poéticas da Cor, Centro Cultural Light, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Poéticas da Cor, Centro Culural São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Roteiros Roteiros Roteiros…. XXIV Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil
Arte Contemporânea Brasileira: Um e Outro, XXIV Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil 1997
TRUCE: Echoes of Art in an Age of Endless Conclusions, Site Santa Fe, NM Between the Eyes the Desert, In Site 97, San Diego, CA
1996
Door into Darkness (installation), Prospect 96, Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany Galeria Camargo Vilaça, São Paulo, Brazil
Excesso, Paço das Artes, São Paulo, Brazil 1995
Panorama da arte brasileira, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil and Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1994
Out of Nowhere, Castillo del Morro, La Havana Biennal, Cuba Out of Nowhere, Ludwig Forum, Germany
A Hidden View, Barbican Center Concourse Gallery, London, UK 1993
Paixão do olhar, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Arte Amazonas, Berlin Kunsthalle, Germany
Sobre Santiago - Tres de Magnum, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Gallica, Spain
1992
Arte Amazonas, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil V Vigo Foto Bienal
Brazilian Color Photography, Houston Photofest, EUA Arte e Poder, Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1990
Suadouro (photographs), Galerie 1900-2000, Paris, France
Small reflexions on a certain bestiality, audiovisual installation, Photo Biennale Rotterdam 1989
Rio Hoje (painting), Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
3a Bienal de Arte de Cuba (photographs), La Habana 1989, Cuba
UABC: Contemporary Art in Uruguai, Argentina, Brazil, Chile (photographs), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1988
Brazil Projects - P.S.1, Long Island, NY 1987
Latin American Photography, Australian Center of Photography, Sydney, Australia
On the Line, the New Color Photojournalism, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS and the Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, TX
Masters of Street Photography III, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA 1986
50 Jahre Moderne Farbfotografie, Fotokina, Cologne
On the Line, the New Color Photojournalism, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Portland Museum of Art, ME;
Oakland Art Museum, CA
1a Quadrienal de Fotografia, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil Diálogo com Amaú (multi-visual installation), Rencontres Photo d’Arles 1985
Auto retrato do brasileiro, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil
Brazilian Color Photography, Burden Gallery - Aperture Foundation, NY 1984
Les Présidents, Magnum Gallery, Paris
1a Bienal de Arte de Cuba (photographs), La Havana, Cuba 1983
Diálogo com Amaú (multi-visual installation), XVII Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil Photographs, Galeria Arco, São Paulo, Brazil
1983
Brésil des Brésiliens, Centre George Pompidou, Paris, France
O tempo do olhar (photographs), Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil
O tempo do olhar (photographs), Museu de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Journées audio visuelles (film), Centre George Pompidou, Paris, France
De l’eau dans le jazz (audio-visual installation), Rencontres Photo d’Arles, France 1982
Nada levarei qundo morrer aqueles que mim deve cobrarei no inferno (film), Oberhausen Film Festival, West Germany
Fotografia Contemporânea Latino-Americana, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France Prize Kodak Color, Centre Kodak, Paris, France
1981
Coloquio Latino Americano de Fotografia (audiovisual: nada levarei…), Mexico City
Coleção Gilberto Chateaubriand (photographs), Museu de Arte Moderna de Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Coleção Gilberto Chateaubriand (photographs), Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil Quasi Cinema (installation with projections), FUNARTE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1980
1a Trienal de Fotografia, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil Quasi Cinema (film projection), Centro Internazzionale di Breza, Italy Camera Incantate (negativo sujo installation), Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy 1979
Foto Bahia (photographs), Teatro Castro Alves, Salvador, Bahia
Nossa Gente (photographs), Fotogaleria FUNARTE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1977
Photographs, Galeria Grafitti, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1976
Grande São Paulo (photographs), Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil 1968
Objects and Sculpture, Galeria Goeldi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1967
Paintings, Salão Esso de Artes Plásticas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil IX Bienal de São Paulo (paintings), Brazil
1966
The Young Three (paintings), Sawdust Gallery, New York, NY
Awards and Grants 1997
Nakta, Prix du Livre Photo, Rencontres internationales de la Photographie, Arles
1995
Santa Rosa series, FUNARTE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1994
Santa Rosa series, Bolsa Vitae, Sao Paulo, Brazil 1993
Crianca de Rua, Rockfeller Foundation, New York, NY 1988
Memoria Viva (by Otavio Bezerra), Best direction of photography – Brazilia Film Festival, Brazilia Abolicao (by Zozimo Bulbul), Best direction of photography – Brazilia
Film Festival, Brazilia 1986
Apaga-te Sesamo, Special prize of the Jury – International Short Film
Festival, Salvador/Best Video and Film Direction – Film and Video Festival of Maranhao, Maranhao 1982
Fotografias, Prix Kodak de la Critique Photograhique, Paris, France Nada levarei quando morrer aqueles que mim deve cobrarei no inferno, Special Jury Prize and The International Critics Award, XI
Fetival du Film de Court Metrage et du Film Documentaire, Lille 1981
Nada levarei quando morrer aqueles que mim deve cobrarei no inferno, Film Festival – Best photograph, Brazil
1980
Great Prize of the Photograph Triennale, Museum of Modern Art (MAM), São Paulo, Brazil Publications
2002
Gritos Surdos, Centro Português de Fotografia, Porto, texto de Maria do Carmo Séren.
2000
Pele do Tempo, Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Brasil, text by Paulo Sérgio Duarte.
2001
Miguel Rio Branco, Palacete del Embarcadero, Santander, Spain, texto de Fernando Francés.
1999
Entre los Ojos, Fundación La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain, texto de Adriano Pedrosa.
1998
Miguel Rio Branco, Aperture New York, Companhia das Letras, Brasil Silent Book, Cosac & Naify, Brazil.
1996
Out of Nowhere. Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil texto de Ligia Canongia.
Nakta, Fundação Cultural de Curitiba, Brasil, text by Louis Calaferte.
1995
Von Nirgendwoher. IFA, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Germany, texto de Iris Lens e Karin Stempel.
1991
Coração Espelho da Carne. Institut für Auslandsberziehungen, Germany, texto de Iris Lens e Jean-Pierre Nouhaud.
1988
Miguel Rio Branco, Idea Books edizioni, Italy, texto de Mario Cravo Junior e Jean Pierre Nouhaud.
1985
Salvador da Bahia. Double Page, France, text by Jorge Amado.
1985
Dulce Sudor Amargo. Fondo de Cultura Economico, México, text by Jean Pierre Nouhaud.
Bibliography 2007
Artforum International, Mixed Exposures 2000
Icon, março, integrante do nº 620 do jornal "O Independente", Lisboa, Portugal 1999
Paparazzi nº 20, international art photography magazine, São Paulo
Rumos nº3, comemorative publication of the 500 years of Brasil, São Paulo 1997
ArtForum, year XXXV, nº 8, New York 1990
El Pais Semanal, Spain. Bailando en la Calle Stern, Germany. Schwarze Glut
1989
Stern, Germany. Bolivars Traum 1987
Aperture, USA. Latin American Photography – portfolio Miguel Rio Branco page 6 1986
Geo, France. Ruée vers Carajás 1984
Photo Magazine, France. Rio Branco en Amazonie Geo, France. Kayapós en danger de progrès Aperture, Usa. Women of Maciel
1982
Autrement, France. Portfolio Photo Magazine, France. Portfolio 1980
Diaframma, Italy. Portfolio Il Fotografo, Italy. Le cicatrici Geo, France. Les olvidados Geo, USA. Abandoned children 1979
Malasartes, Brazil. Satélites
Revista Iris, Brazil. Garimpo de Carnaíba 1974
Revista Novidades Fotoptica, Brazil. Portfolio Public Collections
DG Bank, Frankfurt, Germany The George Pompidou Center, Paris The Metropolitan Museum of New York Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA The Museum of Art of São Paulo
Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro The Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo The Museum of Photographic Arts of San Diego The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
