João Penalva is the artist honoured with the EDP Foundation Art Grand Prize. The decision was made unanimously by an international jury, which highlighted his ‘singular and non-linear trajectory, grounded in profound research and experimentation with diverse materials and languages, the various ambitious projects he has realised, and the consistent quality of his work.’
‘The virtuosity and complexity of his practice are revealed in the exploration of paths and narratives across writing, painting, drawing, installation, photography and video, in a constant blurring of the boundaries between reality and fiction,’ the jury members added, emphasising ‘the historical importance of an artist still relatively little known to the wider public.’
The jury for this edition was chaired by Vera Pinto Pereira, President of the EDP Foundation, and comprised Andrew Renton (Writer, Curator and Professor at Goldsmiths, University of London), François Quintin (Curator and Director of the Collection Lambert), Luisa Cunha (artist and winner of the 2021 EDP Foundation Art Grand Prize), Luiz Camillo Osorio (Curator and Professor of Philosophy at PUC‑Rio), João Pinharanda (Curator and Artistic Director of MAAT) and Miguel Coutinho (Executive Board Member and Managing Director of the EDP Foundation).
According to the jury, the choice of João Penalva upholds the spirit that has guided the EDP Foundation Grand Prize, recognising the consistency and continuity of a body of work ‘of exceptional quality over time.’
Artist Biography
Born in Lisbon in 1949, João Penalva began his artistic path in ballet and contemporary dance, performing with the companies of Pina Bausch and Gerhard Bohner.
In 1976, he settled in London and studied at Chelsea College of Arts, initiating a visual art practice notable, among other things, for its resistance to simple categorisation. Drawing on diverse sources such as literature, found objects and archival materials, his work often involves in-depth research.
Until the 1990s, his practice was rooted in neo-expressionist painting, but from that decade onwards he broadened and deepened his approach, exploring video, installation, photography, music and performance, and bringing together image, text and language. He investigates the various narrative possibilities of these media and devices through a blurring of the boundaries between reality and fiction, and systematically engages with the role of chance and the position of the viewer, the mechanisms of perception and the instability of interpretation.
João Penalva lived and worked in London until 2021, when he returned to Lisbon. Since 2002, he has held the position of external professor at Lund University's Malmö Art Academy in Sweden. He represented Portugal at the São Paulo Biennial (1996) and the Venice Biennale (2001). He has had solo exhibitions around the world, with presentations in cities such as Vilnius, London, Innsbruck, Glasgow, Malmö, Milwaukee, Toronto, Budapest, Berlin, Paris, Munich and Perth.
João Penalva is represented in the EDP Foundation Art Collection, and his works have been included in group exhibitions produced by the EDP Foundation or MAAT, such as T.D. Transmissão Direta da Torre do Relógio da Câmara Municipal do Porto (Live Broadcast fron the Clock Tower of the Porto City Council Building, 2015) and Quote/Unquote. Between Appropriation and Dialogue (2017).
