Antonio Obá: Rituals of Care

The Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève presents Rituals of Care, the first mid-career survey in Europe dedicated to Brazilian artist Antonio Obá.

Antonio Obá’s multifaceted practice encompasses painting, sculpture, photography, installation, video, and performance. His œuvre interrogates and subverts historical representations, reappropriating spiritual practices and stigmas of racism. Obá endeavors to reclaim his African heritage in a societal framework that has historically sought to dilute Black culture. His works therefore confront the violence inflicted over centuries upon African-Brazilian traditions and communities with new narratives.

Antonio Obá (b. 1983, Ceilândia, Brazil) lives and works in Brasília, Brazil. Obá investigates the influence and contradictions within the cultural construction of Brazil, giving rise to an act of resistance and reflection on the idea of national identity. Obá utilizes icons present in Brazilian culture as allusions to racial and political identity, these iconic historical and sometimes religious subjects are explored within his sculpture, painting, installations, and performance. Obá’s own body is central to his research, questioning the eroticization of the black male body and construction of his own identity.

He had has solo exhibitions at Pina Contemporânea, São Paulo, Brazil (2023); Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2022); and X Museum, Beijing, China (2022). His work has been included in group exhibitions at 12th Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK (2023); Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle, Netherlands (2023); MASP, São Paulo, Brazil (2022); Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa (2022); IMS Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil (2021); Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2021); Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Paris, France (2021); MO.CO, Montpellier, France (2020); Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil (2019); Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2018); Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2017);Casa da América Latina, Brasília, Brazil (2016); and Museu Nacional da República, Brasília, Brazil (2015).

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