Angelo Venosa

Pioneer in Brazilian Contemporary Sculpture

Angelo Venosa, born in 1954 in São Paulo, Brazil, is a pioneer of contemporary sculpture in the country. Currently, he lives and works in Rio de Janeiro. He graduated in Industrial Design from the Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial in 1974 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the School of Fine Arts at UFRJ in 2007. Since the 1980s, Venosa has devoted himself exclusively to sculpture, moving away from painting to explore his first three-dimensional works.

During the 1990s, Venosa began using various materials such as marble, wax, lead, and animal teeth in his creations, reminiscent of anatomical structures like vertebrae and bones. In one of his notable works, "Há?" (2009/2013), Venosa constructed a 3.5-meter exoskeleton using layers of bolted plywood, initiating an innovative process of modeling with plasticine.

Recently, the artist has incorporated technologies such as 3D printing and computer-aided design to create complex structures and exoskeletons made of plywood and metal, resembling corals. Venosa's career includes participation in significant exhibitions, such as the 19th São Paulo Art Biennial (1987), the 45th Venice Biennale (1993), and the 5th Mercosul Biennial (2005).

In 2012, the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro held a major solo exhibition to celebrate 30 years of Angelo Venosa's artistic career. This show was later presented at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo in 2013; at the Palácio das Artes in Belo Horizonte in 2014; and at the MAMAM in Recife, also in 2014. Venosa's work is a landmark in the Brazilian art scene, recognized for its innovation and depth in both technique and concept.

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