Born in Macaúbas (Bahia) in 1968. Lives and works between Salvador and Cachoeira (Bahia). PhD in Communication and Semiotics, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), 2016. Master’s in Visual Arts from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), 1998; undergraduate art degree from the Catholic University of Salvador. He has worked as a visual artist, curator and professor in the Visual Arts program at the Universidade do Recôncavo da Bahia since 2006. Solo shows include: Pérola Negra, Blau Projects Galeria, São Paulo, 2016; Genealogy of Materials/Généalogie des Matières, Raw Material Company, Dakar, Senegal, 2015; Atlântico Negro, Central Galeria de Arte, São Paulo, 2013; Ecologia do Pertencimento, Bahia Museum of Modern Art, Salvador, 2002. Group shows include: 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, 2017; 10 Rencontres de Bamako, African Biennale of Photography, Bamako, Mali, 2015; A Nova Mão Afro-Brasileira, Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo, 2013. From a poetic point of view, the artist is interested in the debate on race and ethnicity and the implications of the African Diaspora in the Americas. In this regard, the Candomblé religion, its ways of thinking and ritual acts have spawned a variety of works such as Bori, 2009; Buruburu, 2016; Os Sacudimentos, 2015.
Ayrson Heráclito


Fazendo e falando comida de santo, 2017, Ayrson Heráclito, Negros Indícios Exhibition. Photo: Barbara Cunha
events


Exhibitions
Un lugar secreto, sombras en el bosque
Museo de Arte Afroamericano Venezuela
Caracas, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
19 March - 22 May 2022


Exhibitions
Aquí me quedo / Here I Stay
Institute for Contemporary Art
Richmond (VA), United States
06 May - 19 June 2022


Talks / Workshops
Negras imagens
Instituto Moreira Salles (online)
São Paulo, Brazil
17 May - 07 June 2022


Exhibitions
Encantadas
Schwules Museum
Berlin, Germany
11 March - 18 July 2022


Exhibitions
Espiral para sueños compartidos
Museo Universitario del Chopo
Ciudad de México, Mexico
29 January - 26 June 2022


Exhibitions
Primer junte de mujeres artistas afrodescendientes en Carolina
Museo Casa Escuté
Carolina, Puerto Rico
30 April - 14 May 2022


Exhibitions
Eu sei por que o pássaro canta na gaiola
Simões de Assis
São Paulo, Brazil
31 March - 21 May 2022


Exhibitions
Ayrson Heráclito: Yorùbáiano
Pinacoteca de São Paulo
São Paulo, Brazil
02 April - 22 August 2022


Festivals
FLAWA: Festival of Latin American Women in the Arts
London, United Kingdom
05 May - 14 May 2022


Exhibitions
Fogo encruzado
Vermelho
São Paulo, Brazil
26 March - 30 April 2022


Performances
Janice Iche: A Question of Time, Resilience, Beauty & Love
Contemporary And Office
Nairobi, Kenya
21 April - 05 May 2022


C&
Natocho Faith: I saw a glimpse of Heaven
Contemporary And Office
Nairobi, Kenya
09 May - 21 May 2022
Most read



Installation View
Mercosul Biennial
The 11th edition of the Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial focuses on the Atlantic Triangle.



“Manglaria: raíces y sujeciones”
Reimagining the Colombian Pacific
The exhibition brings together diverse perspectives on the territory and the Afro and indigenous representations in Colombia.



Installation View
The Jumbee Sea
The exhibition The Jumbee Sea contests colonial histories by reconfiguring collective memories from Saint Martin Island and the West Indies.


Make Techno Black Again
The Exhibition TECHNO Reveals Institutional Blind Spots
Art historian Jamila Moroder argues that an exhibition in Bolzano, Italy, disconnects techno from its Black heritage, and suggests we take a more complex view.


In Conversation with Tiago Sant'Ana
"The Naturalization of Whiteness as a Life Parameter"
Artist and researcher uses materials such as sugar to discuss the naturalization and erasure of a colonial past.


The Politics of Textile Art
The Unexpected Power of Threads
Two recent books focus on artists using textiles as a way of traversing politics and creating meaning.


Paulo Nazareth at the ICA Miami
Dismantling colonial power
The Brazilian artist offers a journey to understand the oppressive, exploitative nature of colonial history in his country.


Exhibition
Take Me to the River
A multimedia exhibition by the Goethe-Institut and the Prince Claus Fund Art and culture responds to the climate crisis.


In Conversation with Naomi Rincón Gallardo
“Telling Stories Animated by Desire”
We spoke to the Mexican artist about her critique of Eurocentrism and extractivism from a feminist and decolonial viewpoint.