oão Castilho (Belo Horizonte, 1978) works with photography in an expanded field. The photographic element, at the core of his artistic thinking, takes the form of series, photo installations, collages, and curatorial projects.
Thinking about the Earth in its multiplicity—disrupting scales and blending temporalities—has been the driving force behind his entire body of work. By creating works of near-fiction, João Castilho establishes new ways of aesthetically representing our sense of belonging to the world.
To conceive a geology of color, the artist pursues similar tones from different perspectives. He creates blocks of intensity by operating the explosion and implosion of the photographic frame, making his compositions radiate a cosmopolitical force.
João is a PhD candidate and holds a Master’s degree in Arts from UFMG. He is also a specialist in Art and Contemporaneity from Escola Guignard. He has held solo exhibitions at Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, as well as in cultural centers and art galleries.
He has participated in major group exhibitions, including Second Nature: Photography in the Age of the Anthropocene (2024-2025), Entre Nós: Dez Anos da Bolsa ZUM/Instituto Moreira Salles (2024), New Acquisitions, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (2019), Art, Democracy, Utopia, Museu de Arte do Rio (2018), 10th Mercosul Biennial (2015), 19th Contemporary Art Festival Videobrasil (2015), 8th Curitiba International Biennial (2013), Éloge du Vertige, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris (2012); Mythologies, Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo (2012), and 5th Biennale de la Photographie et des Arts Visuels de Liège (2010).
He has received awards such as the ZUM/IMS Photography Grant, Funarte Contemporary Art Prize, Marc Ferrez Photography Prize, Conrado Wessel Art Foundation Award, among others.
He has published the photobooks Zoo (2017), Hotel Tropical (2013), Pulsão Escópica (2012), Peso Morto (2010), and Paisagem Submersa (Cosac Naify, 2008).
His works are part of significant public and private collections, including Instituto Moreira Salles, Itaú Collection, Musée du Quai Branly, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Pirelli/MASP Collection, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Museu de Arte do Rio, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Museu da Fotografia in Fortaleza, and the National Museum.