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
![Fleur de lys (Marguerite Porete - Le miroir des âmes simples anéanties et qui seulement demeurent en vouloir et désir), Maria Thereza Alves](/cspdocs/artwork/images/maria_thereza_alves_untitled_fleur_de_lis_michel_rein_9987.jpg)
![Delphinium staphisagria (Alice Zeniter - L'art de perdre), Maria Thereza Alves](/cspdocs/artwork/images/maria_thereza_alves_untitled_delphinium_staphisagria_michel_rein_9988.jpg)
![On Remembering for a Future, Maria Thereza Alves](/cspdocs/artwork/images/maria_thereza_alves_on_remembering_for_a_future_michel_rein_9955.jpg)
![On the Need of Remembering Here before the Onslaught of There Began, Maria Thereza Alves](/cspdocs/artwork/images/maria_thereza_alves_on_the_need_of_remembering_here_before_the_onslaught_of_there_began_michel_rein_9856.jpg)
![Chanson Florale, Maria Thereza Alves](/cspdocs/artwork/images/maria_thereza_alves_chanson_florale_michel_rein_6695.jpg)
![The Flood (After the cattle economy...), Maria Thereza Alves](/cspdocs/artwork/images/maria_thereza_alves_michel_rein_5542.jpg)
![The Flood, Maria Thereza Alves](/cspdocs/artwork/images/maria_thereza_alves_michel_rein_5518.jpg)
![The Flood (The atlantic rainforest was cut...), Maria Thereza Alves](/cspdocs/artwork/images/maria_thereza_alves_michel_rein_5517.jpg)
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Gallery exhibitions
Museum exhibitions
![CAAC, Seville, 2015](/cspdocs/contact/portfolio/mta156.jpg)
![dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, 2012](/cspdocs/contact/portfolio/mariatherezaalves_portfolio_6.jpg)
![dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, 2012](/cspdocs/contact/portfolio/mariatherezaalves_portfolio_7.jpg)
![Musée d'Histoire de Nantes, 2012](/cspdocs/contact/portfolio/mariatherezaalves_portfolio_9.jpg)
![Trentino, Italy, 2008](/cspdocs/contact/portfolio/mariatherezaalves_portfolio_17.jpg)
![Farewell to Post-Colonialism, Guangzhou, China, 2008](/cspdocs/contact/portfolio/wake2.jpg)
![Les Rotondes, Luxembourg, 2006](/cspdocs/contact/portfolio/mariatherezaalves_portfolio_23.jpg)
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
![Maria Thereza Alves:](/cspdocs/press/couvertures/maria_thereza_alves_sprossen_der_vergangenheit_stayinart_laura_giudici_michel_rein_1210.jpg)
StayinArt
Maria Thereza Alves: "Sprossen der Vergangenheit"
2024
![ArtForum : Must See - Artforum](/cspdocs/press/couvertures/artforum_must_see_artforum_michel_rein_1069.jpg)
Artforum
ArtForum : Must See
2022
![Maria Thereza Alves, Uber das landschaftsbild als sichtbarmachung von gescichte - KUNSTFORUM International](/cspdocs/press/couvertures/maria_thereza_alves_uber_das_landschaftsbild_als_sichtbarmachung_von_gescichte_michel_rein_1066.jpg)
KUNSTFORUM International
Maria Thereza Alves, Uber das landschaftsbild als sichtbarmachung von gescichte
2022
![Seeds of Change - Art in America](/cspdocs/press/couvertures/seeds_of_change_art_in_america_emily_watlington_michel_rein_1029.jpg)
Art in America
Seeds of Change
2022
![Conversations - On Fights, Rights, and real Forms of (Artistic) Contribution - Mousse Magazine](/cspdocs/press/couvertures/conversations_on_fights_rights_and_real_forms_of_artistic_contribution_michel_rein_1090.jpg)
Mousse Magazine
Conversations - On Fights, Rights, and real Forms of (Artistic) Contribution
2019
![Un mondo botanico - Il Manifesto](/cspdocs/press/couvertures/un_mondo_botanico_il_manifesto_lorenza_pignatti_michel_rein_719.jpg)
Il Manifesto
Un mondo botanico
2019
![Maria Thereza Alves - Third Text](/cspdocs/press/couvertures/maria_thereza_alves_third_text_michel_rein_669.jpg)
Third Text
Maria Thereza Alves
2018
![Maria Thereza Alves - FRIEZE](/cspdocs/press/couvertures/maria_thereza_alves_frieze_michel_rein_652.jpg)
FRIEZE
Maria Thereza Alves
2018
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Publications
![Maria Thereza Alves, Seeds of Change](/cspdocs/editions/couvertures/mta_seeds_of_change_admin_jul_01_134132_2023_conflict.jpg)
Maria Thereza Alves, Seeds of Change
Publisher: Carin Kuoni and Wilma Lukatsch
2022
![Maria Thereza Alves](/cspdocs/editions/couvertures/mariatherezaalves_caac_ellargocalinoaxico_vg.jpg)
Maria Thereza Alves
Publisher: Sternberg Press & CAAC
2017
![Seeds of Change: A Floating BAllast Seed Garden](/cspdocs/editions/couvertures/mta_seeds_of_change.jpg)
Seeds of Change: A Floating BAllast Seed Garden
Publisher:
2015
![Maria Thereza Alves](/cspdocs/editions/couvertures/mta_catalogue.jpg)
Maria Thereza Alves
Publisher: École des beaux-arts de Nantes
2013