Vanessa da Silva

Vanessa da Silva was born in São Paulo, Brazil (1976), she lives and works in London. Her work includes sculpture, installation and performance focusing on issues of immigration, notions of territory, identity and displacement. Born and raised in Sao Paulo but living in London over a decade, da Silva reflects upon her own lived experiences as a Latin American immigrant in Europe to reconstruct her own consciousness of Brazilian identity and otherness, she is interested in the space between nationalities and the complicated borders where identities and cultures mix and meet, where divergent and conflicting ideas cohabit.

 She holds an MA Painting from the Royal College of Art, London (2017), and a BFA in Product Design from FAAP, São Paulo, Brazil (1999). In 2020, she received the Hopper Prize (USA), and in 2019 the Gilbert Bayes Award from the Royal Society of Sculptors (London), in 2017 she was awarded the Almacantar Studio Grant. She participated in the residences FAAP, São Paulo (2020), Pivô Research, São Paulo (2019) and Ox-Bow, USA (2017).

She has exhibited in the UK and internationally with most recent projects at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (2022), 019 Gent, Ghent, Flag commission (2022) and La Casa Encendida, Devenir Isla, Madrid (2022). Upcoming exhibitions include MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK (2023). Solo Exhibitions: Muamba Grove, Frieze Sculpture, London (2021), Mamão com Açúcar, Artissima, Turin (2021), The Inner Rhythm of the Collective, Lungley Gallery, London (2021), Vertical Zen, Hospitalfield, Scotland (2019), Muamba Grove, Duarte Sequeira Gallery, Portugal (2019), Stranger than Paradise, StudioRCA Riverlight, London (2017). Selected Group Exhibitions: De Montañas Submarinas el Fuego Hace Islas, Pivô, São Paulo (2022), Sol, curated by Alexandre da Cunha, Marli Matsumoto Gallery, São Paulo (2022), Transient Roots, curated by Huma Kabakci, Sapling Gallery, London (2022), Female Voices of Latin America, Vortic Art, London (2021), Assembly Points, Public Gallery, London (2020), Four Flags, Jaqueline Martins Gallery, São Paulo (2020), Salon Acme, Mexico City (2020), Antifascismo Tropical, curated by Pablo León de la Barra, White Cubicle, London (2019), This Future is Unthinkable, Yet We Are Thinking It, Damien and the Love Guru, Brussels (2019), VIA Arts Prize, Embassy of Brazil, London (2018), Artworks Open curated by Tai Shani and Emma Talbot, Barbican Arts Trust, London (2018), ARCO Lisbon, Opening section curated by João Laia, Portugal (2018), I Am He As You Are She As You Are Me, curated by Kiki Mazzucchelli, House of Egorn, Berlin (2018), Herland, Bosse & Baum, London (2017), With Institutions Like This..., curated by Victor Wang, The Averard Hotel, London (2016).

With thanks to Duarte Sequeira, Braga for the collaboration

Selected Work