Paulo Monteiro (b. 1961, São Paulo, Brazil) develops a practice that moves fluidly between painting, drawing and sculpture, exploring the tension between material and form. His work is characterized by a reduced visual language, where marks, lines and volumes emerge through processes of repetition and transformation.
Monteiro studied at Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (FAAP) in São Paulo and was a key member of the Casa 7 group during the 1980s, alongside artists such as Carlito Carvalhosa and Nuno Ramos. This period marked a return to expressive painting in Brazil, positioning gesture and materiality at the center of artistic production in response to earlier conceptual tendencies.
Across his practice, Monteiro often works with modest materials such as paper, plaster, bronze or canvas, allowing their physical properties to guide the development of each piece. In recent decades, Monteiro has refined a quieter, more introspective approach, emphasizing balance, rhythm and the presence of the void. His works suggest a process of accumulation and subtraction, where each gesture carries both immediacy and restraint.
His work has been widely exhibited in Brazil and internationally, including solo and group exhibitions at institutions such as the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo and the Museu de Arte do Rio. He has also participated in major exhibitions including the São Paulo Biennial, contributing to ongoing dialogues around abstraction and materiality in contemporary art. Monteiro’s work is held in important public and private collections, both in Brazil and abroad.