Maria Thereza Alves
Biography
Born in 1961 in Sao Paulo (Brasil). Lives and works between Naples (Italy) and Berlin (Germany).
Maria Thereza Alves' artistic trajectory is inseparable from her political activism,
whether it be in favour of ecology, the rights of indigenous minorities or territorial and
decolonising struggles.
Maria Thereza Alves does not favour any particular medium, although her work often takes the form of prolific installations mixing natural and manufactured objects, videos, texts, drawings and photographs. These installations, like real investigations, reconstruct the artist's explorations and actions on a given territory. In the same way, her field of research and commitment is free of geographical boundaries, whether she invests in the urban environment (New York, Manchester) or natural spaces. The Seeds of Change project, begun in 1999, this time articulates the issues of colonization, slavery and ecology. Seeds brought back to Europe by merchant ships are exhumed and then replanted in the heart of large western cities on floating platforms. The circulation of beings, whether human or plants, allows Alves to draw up a paradoxical history of globalization, between uprooting, abandonment and resistance.
In 2017, she has been awarded by the Vera List Prize.
Selected exhibitions include solo shows at IAC - Institut d'Art Contemporain (Villeurbanne), High Line (New York), Parsons - The New School of Design (New York), CAAC - Centre Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (Seville), Musée d'Histoire de Nantes - Château des Ducs de Bretagne, Serpentine Gallery (London), CRAC Alsace (Altkirch), Jewish Museum (Berlin). She has participated in many international biennials such as (d)OCUMENTA 13 (Kassel), Manifesta 7 (Trento), 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, 29th Sao Paulo Biennial.
Her work is part of prestigious collections as Reina Sofia (Madrid), Migros Museum
(Zurich), Centre National des Arts Plastiques (Paris), National Gallery of Canada
(Ottawa), Heather & Anthony Podesta (Washington D.C.), BPS22 - Collection de la Province de Hainaut (Charleroi), IAC — Institut d'art contemporain (Villeurbanne), INELCOM Collection (Madrid).&
Selected works
Maria Thereza Alves
Fleur de lys (Marguerite Porete - Le miroir des âmes simples anéanties et qui seulement demeurent en vouloir et désir) , 2022
watercolor on paper, wooden frame
30 x 30 cm (11.81 x 11.81 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. ALVE22132
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Maria Thereza Alves
Delphinium staphisagria (Alice Zeniter - L'art de perdre) , 2022
watercolor on paper, wooden frame
30 x 30 cm (11.81 x 11.81 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. ALVE22130
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Maria Thereza Alves
On Remembering for a Future , 2022
wool, linen, tencel
diam : 250 cm (diam: 110.24 in.) cm
Edition of 1 + 1 EA
N° Inv. ALVE22129
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Maria Thereza Alves
On the Need of Remembering Here before the Onslaught of There Began , 2022
wool, tencel
diam : 160 cm (62.99 in.)
Edition of 3
N° Inv. ALVE22127
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Maria Thereza Alves
Chanson Florale , 2018
sound work
test en
Edition of 2 + 1 EA
Collection: IAC - Institut d'Art Contemporain de Villeurbane, France
N° Inv. ALVE18124
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Maria Thereza Alves
The Flood (After the cattle economy...) , 2017
stretched textile, acrylic on paper
canvas: 100 x 100 cm, text: 50 x 50 cm / canvas: 39.37 x 39.37 in, text: 19.69 x 19.69 in
unique artwork
N° Inv. ALVE17110
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Maria Thereza Alves
The Flood , 2017
watercolour on paper, wooden frame, plexiglass
50 x 65 cm / 19.69 x 25.59 in
unique artwork
N° Inv. ALVE17102
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Maria Thereza Alves
The Flood (The atlantic rainforest was cut...) , 2017
watercolour and acrylic on paper, wooden frame, plexiglas
2 x (50 x 65) cm / 2 x (19.69 x 25.59) in
unique artwork
FRAC Picardie collection, Amiens, France
N° Inv. ALVE17101
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Maria Thereza Alves
Untitled , 2017
acrylic on paper, wooden frame, glass
100 x 70 cm / 39.4 x 25.5 in
unique artwork
N° Inv. ALVE17091
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Maria Thereza Alves
Untitled , 2017
acrylic on paper, wooden frame, glass
100 x 70 cm / 39.4 x 27.5 in
unique artwork
N° Inv. ALVE17087
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Maria Thereza Alves
Uma possível reversão de oportunidades perdidas , 2016
3 inkjet on paper
200 x 147 cm (each) / 78.7 x 57.9 in (each)
unique artwork
Reina Sofia collecion, Madrid, Spain
N° Inv. ALVE17085
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Maria Thereza Alves
Aicoabeeng , 2014
bronze
50 x 45 x 16 cm / weight: 20,5 kg / 19,7 x 17,7 x 6,3 in
Edition of 5 + 2 EA
N° Inv. ALVE15080
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Maria Thereza Alves
Aimõbucu , 2014
bronze
57 x 39 x 17 cm (22.44 x 15.35 x 6.69 in)
Edition of 5 + 2 EA
N° Inv. ALVE15079
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Maria Thereza Alves
Coigbâcete recou , 2014
bronze
50 x 28 x 24 cm / weight: 20 kg / 19.7 x 11 x 9.4 in, 20 kg
Edition of 5 + 2 EA
N° Inv. ALVE15078
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Maria Thereza Alves
The Flood , 2013
painting watercolour on paper, wooden frame, plexiglass
24 x 32 x 3,5 cm / 9.45 x 12.6 x 1.7 in
unique artwork
N° Inv. ALVE17096
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Maria Thereza Alves
Untitled , 2013
acrylic on paper
100 x 70 cm / 39.37 x 27.55 in
unique artwork
N° Inv. ALVE13062
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Maria Thereza Alves
Seeds of Change: Floating Ballast Seeds Garden created on a disused barge in Bristol's Floating Harbor , 2012
photos, text, map, frame
Edition of 1 + 1 EA
N° Inv. ALVE14078
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Maria Thereza Alves
Ici , 2012
7 digital photographs, 7 wooden frame
40 x 65 cm (15.75 x 25.59 in)
Edition of 3 + 1 EA
N° Inv. ALVE13036
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Maria Thereza Alves
Beyond the painting , 2011
video work, color
23' 43''
Edition of 5 + 2 EA
Collections : Heather & Anthony Podesta, Washington, DC / Province de Hainaut, dépôt B.P.S. 22, Charleroy, Belgium
N° Inv. ALVE12033
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Maria Thereza Alves
Bougainvillea , 2009
5 watercolors on paper, wooden frame
91,8 x 82,5 cm, 91 x 46,5 cm x 2, 34,5 x 46,5 cm x 2
unique artwork
N° Inv. ALVE08011
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Maria Thereza Alves
This is not an Apricot , 2008
20 watercolors on paper, wooden frame
26 x 36 cm (each without frame)
unique artwork
Private collection, Mulhouse, France
N° Inv. ALVE09028
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Maria Thereza Alves
Fair Trade Head , 2007
color photographs (diptych) + text (French or English), lambda prints, oak frame, glass
100 x 100 cm (each)
Edition of 5 + 2 EA
Collection : CNAP - Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris/La Défense
N° Inv. ALVE08024
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Maria Thereza Alves
Seeds of change: Exeter and Topsham , 2004
photos, text, map, frame
Edition of 1 + 1 EA
N° Inv. ALVE14075
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Maria Thereza Alves
Seeds of change: Marseille , 1999-2000
photos, text, maps, frame
Edition of 1 + 1 EA
N° Inv. ALVE14073
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Gallery exhibitions
Museum exhibitions
Thailand Biennale, Chiang Rain Thailand, 2023
MAMAC, Nice, 2022
documenta 15, Kassel, Germany, 2022
Migros Museum, Zürich, 2020
Migros Museum, Zürich, 2020
22nd Biennial of Sydney, Autralia, 2020
22nd Biennial of Sydney, Autralia, 2020
Fondation Groupe EDF, Paris, 2020
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The Open World, Thailand Biennale, 2023
Devenir Fleur (cur. Hélène Guenin and Rebecca François), MAMAC, Nice, 2022, ph : Jean Christophe Lett
documenta 15, Kassel, Germany, 2022
Potential Worlds 1: Planetary Memories, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland, 2020, photo: Stefan Altenburger. Collection Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst
Potential Worlds 1: Planetary Memories, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland, 2020, photo: Stefan Altenburger. Collection Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst
OIKOVYTERI ITEKO'A MÔ'NGUEVYA (Decolonization continues), 22nd Biennial of Sydney, Autralia, 2020. Ph. Zan Wimberley
OIKOVYTERI ITEKO'A MÔ'NGUEVYA (Decolonization continues), 22nd Biennial of Sydney, Autralia, 2020. Ph. Zan Wimberley
Courants Verts, Fondation Groupe EDF, Paris, France, 2020, photo: Nikolai Saoulski
Fragile Earth: Seeds Weeds Plastic Crust, MIMA - Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Middlesbrough, UK, 2019, photo: Hynes Photography
Una proposta di sincretismo (questa volta senza genocidio), Manifesta, Palazzo Butera - Cantiere aperto, Palermo, Italy, 2018. Ph. Wolfgang Traeger
Maria Thereza Alves & Jimmie Durham, The Middle Earth, IAC - Institut d'Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne, France, 2018
Maria Thereza Alves & Jimmie Durham, The Middle Earth, IAC - Institut d'Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne, France, 2018
Maria Thereza Alves & Jimmie Durham, The Middle Earth, IAC - Institut d'Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne, France, 2018
A Ballast Flora Garden : High Line, High Line Art, NYC, USA, 2018
Maria Thereza Alves: Seeds of Change - New York a Botany of Colonization, Vera List Center Prize, The New School, NY, USA, 2017
Maria Thereza Alves: Seeds of Change - New York a Botany of Colonization, Vera List Center Prize, The New School, NY, USA, 2017
Maria Thereza Alves: Seeds of Change - New York a Botany of Colonization, Vera List Center Prize, The New School, NY, USA, 2017
Maria Thereza Alves: Seeds of Change - New York a Botany of Colonization, Vera List Center Prize, The New School, NY, USA, 2017
Wake: Flight of Birds and People, Art Dubai projects, A4 Space, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, 2015
El largo camino a Xico (1991-2014), Centre Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC), Seville, Spain, 2015
El largo camino a Xico (1991-2014), Centre Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC), Seville, Spain, 2015
El largo camino a Xico (1991-2014), Centre Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC), Seville, Spain, 2015
El largo camino a Xico (1991-2014), Centre Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC), Seville, Spain, 2015
El largo camino a Xico (1991-2014), Centre Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC), Seville, Spain, 2015
El largo camino a Xico (1991-2014), Centre Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC), Seville, Spain, 2015
El regreso de un lago, dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany, 2012
El regreso de un lago, dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany, 2012
Par ces murs nous sommes mal enfermés, Musée d'Histoire de Nantes, Château des Ducs de Bretagne, Nantes, France, 2012
Manifesta 7, Trentino, Italy, 2008
3rd Guangzhou Triennial, Farewell to Post-Colonialism, Guangzhou, China, 2008
A Global Multitude in the Rotonde, Les Rotondes, Luxembourg, 2006
Videos
Maria Thereza Alves - On Remembering for a Future
Maria Thereza Alves, On remembering for a future, at Michel Rein, Paris, 2022
FOCUS WORK
Pascal Beausse, head of the Cnap's photographic collection, presents Fair Trade Head, a work by Maria Thereza Alves
Press
ART NEWS
Maria Thereza Alves
2018
ART FORUM
Maria Thereza Alves
2018
Beaux-Arts
Maria Thereza Alves
2018
Mouvement
Maria Thereza Alves
2018
Délibéré
Flore de ballast : Maria Thereza Alves et la botanique de la colonisation
2018
Dream Idea Machine
Maria Thereza Alves
2018
Wall Street International
Maria Thereza Alves
2018
Zigzags Blog
Maria Thereza Alves
2017
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Publications
Maria Thereza Alves, Seeds of Change
Publisher: Carin Kuoni and Wilma Lukatsch
2022
Maria Thereza Alves
Publisher: Sternberg Press & CAAC
2017
Seeds of Change: A Floating BAllast Seed Garden
Publisher:
2015
Maria Thereza Alves
Publisher: École des beaux-arts de Nantes
2013
