Ângela Ferreira (eng)

Ângela Ferreira
Mozambique, 1958. Lives and works in Portugal

Ângela Ferreira was born in Maputo, Mozambique, grew up in South Africa, and earned her Master of Fine Arts from the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town.

Ferreira’s work is concerned with the ongoing impact of colonialism and postcolonialism on contemporary society, an in-depth investigation that she materializes into a concise and resonant formalization of ideas.

She represented Portugal at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007 with a continuation of her research on the mechanisms through which European modernism has attempted—often unsuccessfully—to adapt to the realities of the African continent. This project was conceived based on the history of Jean Prouvé’s Maison Tropicale.

Architecture also serves as a starting point for her extensive research into the erasure of colonial memory and the refusal of reparations. Additionally, her sculptural, sound, and video tributes constantly reference the economic, political, and cultural history of the African continent while reclaiming the work and image of unexpected figures such as Peter Blum, Carlos Cardoso, Ingrid Jonker, Jimi Hendrix, Jorge Ben Jor, Jorge dos Santos, Diego Rivera, and Miriam Makeba.

She has held solo and group exhibitions at MAAT, Lisbon; CGAC, Santiago de Compostela; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Culturgest, Lisbon; The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow; Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Barcelona; Bildmuseet, Umeå; Museu de Serralves, Porto; Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg; DePaul Art Museum – Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; Museu Berardo, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon; Stroom, The Hague; Stills, Edinburgh; ICA – Institute of Contemporary Art, Cape Town; Centro de Arte Moderna / Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon; SKD – Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, Dresden; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris; SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia; Museu Nacional de Arte, Maputo; Oslo Museum, Oslo; and Parasol Unit, London.

She has participated in biennials in São Paulo, Lubumbashi, Gwangju, Taipei, and Bucharest, and represented the Portuguese Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale.

Her work is part of important international collections, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia; MACBA, Fundación ARCO, CGAC, and Fundación la Caixa in Spain; Fundação EDP, Fundação de Serralves, Coleção António Cachola, Coleção DGARTES, Culturgest, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, and Fundação PLMJ in Portugal; FRAC Rennes, France; and Market Gallery Foundation, South Africa.

Ângela Ferreira
Klutsis goes to Algeria
2023
Aluminum, iron, color print on Dibond, plexiglass, speaker, sound 00:01:33 loop
200 x 63 x 63 cm

Klutsis goes to Algeria (pastel 1)
2023
Dry pastel on Fabriano paper
50 x 35,5 cm

Klutsis goes to Algeria (pastel 2)
2023
Dry pastel on Fabriano paper
35,5 x 50 cm

Klutsis goes to Algeria (pastel 3)
2023
Dry pastel on Fabriano paper
50 x 35,5 cm

Inquiry

Ângela Ferreira
Klutsis goes to Algeria (pastel 1)
2023
Dry pastel on Fabriano paper
50 x 35,5 cm

Ângela Ferreira
Klutsis goes to Algeria (pastel 2)
2023
Dry pastel on Fabriano paper
35,5 x 50 cm

Ângela Ferreira
Klutsis goes to Algeria (pastel 3)
2023
Dry pastel on Fabriano paper
50 x 35,5 cm

Ângela Ferreira
Remining JAG (Copper Vaults)
2017
MDF, iron, and drawings
114 x 114 x 130.8 cm

Inquiry

Ângela Ferreira
Study for Crouch-touch-pause-engage (acetate) 4
2020
Pastel, acetate, and adhesive tape on paper
59 x 79 cm

Inquiry

Ângela Ferreira
Realistic Manifesto (Lathe), 2022
2022
Iron, MDF, Plexiglass, Aluminum, Bakelite
170 x 156 x 104 cm

Inquiry

Ângela Ferreira
Dalaba: Sol d’Exil Conakry
2019
Digital print on paper mounted on wall
66.5 x 100 cm

Inquiry

Ângela Ferreira
Dalaba: Sol d’Exil 5 Posters
2019
Photocopy on paper
60 x 40 cm

Inquiry

Ângela Ferreira
Talk Tower for Diego Rivera
2017
Aluminum, wood, drawings, photocopies, speaker, sound, PVC
120 x 130 x 180.3 cm

3 A4 drawings, 3 A3 drawings

Inquiry

Ângela Ferreira

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023

Ângela Ferreira, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen, Germany

SAAL Neon, School of Arts – Catholic University of Portugal, Porto, Portugal

2022

Radio Voz da Liberdade, FRAC Art Center, Marseille, France

Realistic Manifesto (Gabo’s fundamental principles of constructivist practice), NF/Nieves Fernández, Madrid, Spain

2021

Heavier than the Sky, Sismógrafo, Porto, Portugal

Structures et gestes – Indépendance Cha Cha & #BucketSystemMustFall, Centre d’art Ygrec-Ensapc, Aubervilliers / Centre d’art de l’Abbaye de Maubuisson, Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, Paris, France

Talk Tower for Forough Farrokhzad, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden

A Spontaneous Tour of Some Monuments of African Architecture, Hangar – Center for Artistic Research, Lisbon

2020

Talk Tower for Forough Farrokhzad, Appleton Square, Lisbon

SENSO. Gallery for Lockdown Days: Mayday, 1987, with typographic intervention by João Bicker, Atelier do Corvo, Coimbra

2019

Poco a poco, CGAC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Dalaba: Sol d’Exile, Culturgest, Lisbon

Zip Zap Circus School, Festival Modell und Ruin – Bauhaus Centenary, Dessau, Germany

Dalaba: Sol d’Exile, Fidelidade Arte, Lisbon

2018

Pan African Unity Mural, Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden

Pan African Unity Mural, MAAT, Lisbon

Demythologize That History and Put It to Rest, Palácio da Ajuda, Lisbon

Diamonds, Obelisk and Others, Lisbon

Permanent Contract, International Museum of Contemporary Sculpture, Santo Tirso

2017

Talk Tower for Ingrid Jonker, DIDAC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Magical Land, Curatorship Lab, Coimbra

Zip Zap and Zumbi, DePaul Art Museum – Chicago Architecture Biennial, USA

Talk Tower for Ingrid Jonker, Appleton Square, Lisbon

South Facing, Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa

2016

Boca, Centre Régional de la Photographie, Douchy-les-Mines, France

Underground Cinemas & Towering Radios, Galeria da Índia, Lisbon

Wattle and Daub, Old School, Lisbon

Re-signification, College of Arts, Coimbra

2015

A Tendency to Forget, Berardo Museum – Belém Cultural Center, Lisbon

Messy Colonialism, Wild Decolonization, MACO, Mexico City / Open Plan, SP-Arte, São Paulo

Independance Cha Cha, Galeria do Parque, Vila Nova da Barquinha

Monuments in Reverse, CAAA, Guimarães

2014

Independance Cha Cha, Lumiar Cité, Lisbon

Revolutionary Traces, Stroom, The Hague

2013

Entrer dans la Mine, Lubumbashi Biennale, Congo

Political Cameras, Stills, Edinburgh

2012

Stone Free, Marlborough Contemporary, London

2011

Carlos Cardoso – Straight to the Point & Peter Blum Cape Sonnets, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town

Carlos Cardoso – Direto ao Assunto, Galeria Filomena Soares, Lisbon

2010

Double Lecture, Carpe Diem, Lisbon

Werdmuller Centre and Other Works, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town

2008

Hard Rain Show, Berardo Museum – CCB, Lisbon / La Criée, Rennes

For Mozambique, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town

2007

Maison Tropicale, Portuguese Pavilion, 52nd Venice Biennale

2003

In No Place, National Museum of Contemporary Art – Chiado Museum, Lisbon

2002

Zip Zap Circus School, temporary public art, ICA – Institute of Contemporary Art, Cape Town

1999

Casa Maputo: An Intimate Portrait, Serralves Museum, Porto

1990

Ângela Ferreira, Modern Art Center – Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025

Onde terá segura a curta vida?, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France

2024

Abril Vermelho, Visual Arts Center, Coimbra

2021

Free State of Barackia, Berlin

Autumn/Winter Collection, EGEAC, Lisbon

Art in São Bento – AA Collection, Lisbon

Witness, Piero Atchugarry Gallery, Miami

A Day in Utopia, Familistère de Guise, Dunkirk

The Silence of the Earth, Braga

100 Years, 100 Artists, Gare Marítima de Alcântara, Lisbon

Drawing in the Norlinda and José Lima Collection, Aveiro

2020

Pretérito Perfecto, with Grada Kilomba and Rogelio López Cuenca, NF/ NIEVES FERNÁNDEZ, Madrid

1 Million Roses for Angela Davis, SKD – Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, Dresden

2019–2008
(Multiple exhibitions at CGAC, Kadist, SESC Pinheiros, MACBA, Calvert 22, MAAT, Bienal de São Paulo, and more – full list available upon request)

Awards

2016

Loop Award, Barcelona

2015

Novo Banco Photo Prize, Lisbon

2006

Dr. Gustavo Cordeiro Ramos Prize, National Academy of Fine Arts, Lisbon

2003

Honorary Research Associate, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town

1997

Finalist, União Latina Prize, União Latina Foundation, Lisbon

1995