Ilê Sartuzi (1995, lives and works between London and São Paulo) is an artist graduated from the University of São Paulo (USP) and now pursues his MFA at Goldsmiths, University of London. He received the PIPA Award (Brazil, 2021), the prize at the Bienal de Artes Mediales (Chile, 2022), and has been nominated twice for the CIFO-Ars Electronica award (USA-Austria, 2022-2023). 

His research involves sculptural objects, mapped video projections, mechatronic installations and theatrical plays toying with the idea of animating objects. Speculating about a possible post-anthropocenic scenario, the work brings together technological apparatus – from simple motors and electronical circuits to machine learning and AI – and a theatrical atmosphere to create mechanisms that follow different internal logics. The instability and flaws in these fragile machines add some kind of personality to their performances.  

With the recurrent absence of a main character or a narrative element, from this empty centre, attention gets dispersed into infrastructural elements of the works. The interest in the dramatic arts in recent years has given a theatricality to his objects and installations which are animated by mechanical movements and interpret dramaturgy and choreographies; often in an exercise of repetition that leads to no catharsis but, instead, begin to reveal the functioning of the machines themselves. 

Some of his recent solo exhibitions and projects include “Vaudeville” at Pedro Cera (Lisbon, 2023); “hollow head doll’s foam” at SESC Pompéia (São Paulo, 2022) and “A. And A again.” at auroras (São Paulo, 2021). He has participated in exhibitions at some of the most important institutions in Brazil, such as Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (2021, 2023); Videobrasil (2021); Museu Oscar Niemeyer (2022); Bienal SUR (2021); Instituto Moreira Salles (2020); SESC (Pompéia, 2022; Pinheiros, 2022; Ribeirão Preto, 2019; Distrito Federal, 2018); CCSP – Centro Cultural São Paulo (2018); MAC-USP Museu de Arte Contemporânea (2017); Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto (2020; 2017; 2015); Galeria Vermelho (2017; 2018, 2019); all three in collaboration with the research group After the End of Art, which he has been part of from 2015 to 2021. He presented theatrical plays in spaces such as Oficina Oswald de Andrade (2018, 2020); Itaú Cultural (2019); Container Theater (2019) and at TUSP (2019). Working for more than a year on a specific project, he presented his play with absent actors “hollow head doll’s foam” at Firma (São Paulo, 2019) and later premiered the play at SESC Pompéia (São Paulo, 2022). His work is in public and private collections including that of Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Instituto PIPA and Videobrasil.  

some common procedures: opening, rotating, dragging, blinking, vibrating with an slightly uncomfortable hiss of the motors. repeating, replacing, closing, pulling, scaling, talking and laughing, once again, pinning, draping and cutting, composing. still, moving, spinning, groping, falling, animating, programming and acting. multiplying, rearranging, opening, rotating and blinking. no show. frequent characters: the curtain, the ghost, the hand (and fingers), lamp bulbs, light, mannequins and other anthropomorphic objects. 

EDUCATION

(2022 – 2024) GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Master in Fine Arts

(2014 – 2019)   UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO (ECA/USP
Bachelor in Fine Arts

(2015 – 2021) Research group –  After the End of Art 
with Prof. Dr. Dora Longo Bahia

(2018 – 2019) RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP FAPESP
“Images of otherness in the work of Henri Matisse”
thesis advisor Prof. Dr. Sônia Salzstein

(2019) INSTITUTO TOMIE OHTAKE | Escola Entrópica 
with Paulo Miyada and Pedro França

(2020) GAIA – Grupo de Arte e Inteligência Artificial  
Group of Art and Artificial Intelligence
GAIA/C4AI/Inova USP

(2013) RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF ART (Florence, Italy)

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 

2023     vaudevillePedro Cera, Lisbon
2022     cabeça oca espuma de bonecaSESC Pompéia, São Paulo
2021    A. E A de novo. auroras, São Paulo 
2020    Dollhouse GalleryDollhouse Gallery 
2019    cabeça oca espuma de bonecafirma, São Paulo

DUO EXHIBITIONS 

2024    in the coulisseNight Café Gallery, London
              GIRLS AND BOYS, Wild Trumpets, London
2021    NhonhôVideobrasil, São Paulo
2018    Faço pé e mãoarte_passagem, São Paulo

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024   

Great Expectations, General Assembly Gallery, London
Phygital, Centro Cultural PGE-RJ, Rio de Janeiro

2023   

Chão da Praça, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo
Hybrid Mirrors, The Wrong Biennale (Embassy)
Spectral, The Cookhouse Gallery, London
Taste the difference, Hypha Studios, London
Spinning Yarns, ArtHub, London

2022   

Desvairar 22, SESC Pinheiros, São Paulo
Ópera citoplasmáticaMuseu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba
Por detrás da retina, Instituto Inclusartiz, Rio de Janeiro
Apocalypse Now, Projeto Vênus, São Paulo
Setas e turmalinasCasa de Cultura do Parque, São Paulo
O cru e o cozido, Galeria Athena, Rio de Janeiro
Uma mão lava a outraOLHÃO, São Paulo
Aquisições recentes: Coleção Instituto PIPA, Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro

2021    

Ninguém teria acreditadoPinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo
Notes on some dysfunctionalityHomeostasis.lab
Tropic 23º 26’14’’ S – Visualizing Spatial DataHomeostasis.lab
SUPER-NATURAL, Olhão, São Paulo
SUPER-NATURALMASSIMO, Milão (Itália)
SUPER-NATURALBPA, Colônia (Alemanha)
Factors 8Bienal SUR / Labart UFSM
Arte e Tecnologia: uma revolução em cursoState, São Paulo

2020

IMS Convida, IMS – Instituto Moreira Salles
Ao Ar, Livre, Tiago de Abreu Pinto
SARP, Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto
Tá me vendo? Tá me ouvindo?, Casa Niemeyer, Brasília

2019

Mostra de Arte da JuventudeSESC Ribeirão Preto
os dois a 80km/h…Caixa Preta, Rio de Janeiro
Precipitações: ArteLondrina7, UEL – Universidade Estadual de Londrina
NascenteCentro Universitário Maria Antonia, São Paulo
DESFILÃO de_passagemarte_passagem, São Paulo
O Grande Sustocc espaço, São Paulo
AmarradonaUniversidade de São Paulo, São Paulo
migalhasgaleria o quarto, São Paulo
Ocupação 9 de Julho, São Paulo

2018

PAREDÃOCCSP – Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo
VERBOGaleria Vermelho, São Paulo
Ruído e ausência contínuosGaleria Sancovsky, São Paulo
Bienal das ArtesSESC-DF, Brasília 
Aonde Vamos?Galeria Lume, São Paulo
Interface2Interface, Rio de Janeiro

2017

Ainda nãoGaleria Vermelho, São Paulo
Subsessões: Avenida PaulistaMASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo
Programa de Exposições 2017MARP – Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto
Novas Poéticas 2017Galeria Cañizares, Salvador
25ª Programa NascenteMAC-USP – Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo
24º Salão de Artes Plásticas de Praia Grande, Palácio das Artes, Praia Grande

2015

TransformandosMAC-USP – Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (Cid. Universitária), São Paulo
Programa de Exposições 2015MARP – Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto
40º Salão de Arte de Ribeirão Preto (SARP)MARP – Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto
Salão de Artes Visuais de Vinhedo, Vinhedo (Menção Honrosa do Júri)

2014

I Salão de Artes Plásticas Solar dos Andradas, São Paulo (Troféu Solar dos Andradas)
23º Salão Curitibano, Curitiba 
22º Salão de Artes de Mococa, Mococa

THEATRICAL PLAYS

2024    SOAP, Goldsmiths, London
2020    Terra Tu PátriaMIToff, São Paulo
2019     Terra Tu PátriaTUSP, São Paulo
               Terra Tu PátriaTeatro de Contêiner, São Paulo
               Terra Tu PátriaItaú Cultural, São Paulo
2018     Terra Tu PátriaOficina Oswald de Andrade, São Paulo

RESIDENCIES

2022    Pivô Arte Pesquisa, São Paulo
2020    Olhão, São Paulo

PRIZES AND AWARDS

2023-24     Hopper Prize, USA (shortlisted)
2023           CIFO-Ars Electronica Award, USA and Austria (nominated)
2022            XV Prêmio Juan Downey, Bienal de Artes Mediales, Chile
                      CIFO-Ars Electronica Award, USA and Austria (nominated)
2021              PIPA Prize, Brasil
2018-2019  FAPESP Research Scholarship, Brasil

SCREENINGS

2023    Semana del Cine Latinoamericano, El Cultral San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina
              Festival PLAY, Corrientes, Argentina
              14 Feria Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo Ch.ACO, Santiago, Chile
              16 Bienal de Artes Mediales TRUENO, Cineteca Nacional de ChileSantiago, Chile
2022     Juan Downey International ContestBienal De Artes Mediales, Santiago, Chile
               9no Corriente, Encuentro Latinoamericano de Cine de no ficcíon, Arequipa, Peru
2021     Juan Downey Prize FinalistsOnda MediaARTV, Santiago, Chile 
               NaVarandaCasa de Cultura do Parque, São Paulo
               Imersões: arte e arquitetura, Rio de Janeiro
2020     Night and DayOlhão, São Paulo
               Arte como RespiroItaú Cultural
               Audiovisual sem destinoGaleria A Sala

PROJECTS 

(2018 – 2022) ARTE_PASSAGEM

Co-creator and organizer of arte_passagem: an artistic occupation of a showcase in downtown São Paulo, where, periodically, an artist is invited to intervene through proposals that dialogue with the surroundings of the city center, its stores and its passersby. The project, which began in June 2018, seeks to create a program that expands traditional ways of thinking about art in contemporary times, and proposes a specific challenge for artists or groups of artists. Therefore, thinking about the conditions of the shop window as a display device, of any type of product, is one of the reflections that artists inevitably go through.