Born in the Brazilian state of Paraíba in1963, Sergio Lucena studied physics and psychology at the Federal University of Paraíba, in the state’s capital city of João Pessoa.

His first informal guidance in painting and drawing was given by artist Flávio Tavares when he was between 17 and 20 years old. In the course of his career as a self-taught artist, he won prizes at important salons in the country, and participated in workshops, cultural exchanges and as an artist-in-residence in Berlin, Washington, D.C. and Denmark with exhibitions in galleries and art institutions in Brazil and abroad. In 2012, he won the Mário Pedrosa Prize for 2011 contemporary artist, awarded by the Brazilian Association of Art Critics (ABCA).

The artist works and lives in the city of São Paulo since 2003.

Solo Exhibitions

2018, Commom Place
Sergio Lucena and Thenjiwe Nkosi. Mariane Ibrahim Gallery. Curated by Mariane Ibrahim. Seattle, USA

2017, Sergio Lucena Silente
Eduardo Fernandes Gallery. Curated by Eduardo Fernandes. Presented by Julia Lima. São Paulo, SP

2016, Time Landscape
Marcela Bartolomeo Art Office. Curated by Flávia Azevedo e Rodrigo Villela. Belo Horizonte, MG

2016, Like the wind
Mezanino Gallery. Curated by Julia Lima. Presented by Fábio Magalhães. São Paulo, SP

2015, Ænigma
Mariane Ibrahim Gallery. Curated by Mariane Ibrahim. Seattle, WA, EUA

2014, Commom Horizon
Usina Cultural Energisa. Curated by Julia Lima. Energisa Visual Arts award. João Pessoa, PB

2011, The sea of Sergio Lucena
Correios Cultural Center. Curated by Cláudia Lopes. Presented by Enock Sacramento. Salvador BA e Rio de Janeiro, RJ

2011, Codes
Lourdina Jean Rabieh Gallery. Presented by José Neistein. Curated by Lourdina Jean Rabieh. São Paulo, SP

2009, Scenes from a painter ́s Life
Citi Cultural Space - CitiBank Institution. Curated by Jacob Klintowitz. São Paulo, SP

2008, The fantastic bestiary of Sergio Lucena
FIEO University. Curated by José Roberto Teixeira Leite. Osasco, SP

2007, Light and Silence
JOSLAVIERO&GUEDES Gallery. Curated by Olívio Guedes. São Paulo, SP

2007, Gods
Museu da Escultura Brasileira (MuBE). Curated by Jacob Klintowitz. São Paulo, SP

2001, Sergio Lucena paintings
Brazilian-American Cultural Institute Inc. (BACI). Curated by José Neistein. Washington DC, EUA

1999, Gallery of Masks
São Francisco Cultural Center. Curated by Gabriel Bechara Filho. João Pessoa, PB

1997, Sergio Lucena 15 years of painting
Núcleo de Arte Contemporânea – NAC. Curated by Gabriel Bechara Filho. João Pessoa, PB

1991, Sergio Lucena paintings
Gamela Gallery. Curated by Prof. Hermano José Guedes. João Pessoa, PB

1990, Sergio Lucena paintings
Laden Gallery. Curated by Frau Caroline Müller. Berlim, Alemanha

1986, Sergio Lucena paintings and drawings
Gamela Gallery. Curated by Prof. Hermano José Guedes. João Pessoa, PB

Main Collective Exhibitions

2018, Da Pedra do Reino ao Ponteio Acutilado
Gilvan Samico, Sergio Lucena, Romero de Andrade Lima, Circo Branco, Gustavo Moura. Caixa Cultural Recife. Curated by Claudinei Roberto. Recife, PE

2018, Kunsthal Vejle Project
Olesya Dzhurayeva, Bolatta Silis Høegh, Garry Noland, Martin Conrad, Ola Mirecka, Haruna Shimonski, Jan Hakon Erichsen, Terje Roalkvam, Sergio Lucena, Finn Have, Steen Rasmussen, Jonna Pedersen, Claus Ejner, Lars Bang, Jacob Juhl, Anders Reventlov, Iben Munnecke, Indigo Richards, Lene Juhler, Britta Egebjerg. Kunsthal Vejle. Curated by Britta Egebjerg and Lene Juhler. Vejle, Banegårdspladsen, Denmark

2017, Contemporary art designations in Brazil
Museu de Arte Contemporânea da USP (MAC-USP). Curated by José Marton. São Paulo, SP

2015, Brave New World, Brave Old World, Ukiyo-e
The Adashi Institute of Woodcut Prints. Curated by Jacob Klintowitz. Tókio, Japão – São Paulo, Brasil

2015, In the Meantime
Tina Zappoli Gallery. Curated by Tina Zappoli and Marinho Neto. Porto Alegre, RS

2015, Dream Dealers
Mezanino Gallery. Curated by Renato De Cara. São Paulo, SP

2014, Gat meows, dog barks and ego kills
Tina Zappoli Gallery. Curated by Tina Zappoli and Marinho Neto. Porto Alegre, RS

2014, The best of each
André Albuquerque, Francisco Hurtz, Francisco Maringelli, Jaime Prades, Mauricio Parra, Sergio Kal, Sergio Lucena, Sergio Niculitchef, Ulysses Bôscolo. Mezanino Gallery. Curated by Renato de Cara. São Paulo, SP

2014, Entrecopas
Museu Nacional do Conjunto Cultural da República. Curated by Wagner Barja. Brasília, DF

2013, Performances of memory
Danielle Noronha, Emídio Contente, Leo Sombra, Mônica Toledo, Sergio Kal, Sergio Lucena. Mezanino Gallery. Curated by Renato De Cara. São Paulo, SP

2013, Primeira vista
Sergio Lucena, Maria Tuca, Sofia Caesar, Fabio Kohler, Julieta, Camila Soato. AMARELONEGRO Gallery. Curated by Cláudio Rosado Torres. Rio de Janeiro, RJ

2011, Dialogics
Sergio Lucena, Katja Loher, Monique Allain, Dacio Bicudo. Lourdina Jean Rabieh Gallery. Curated by Lourdina Jean Rabieh. São Paulo, SP

2010, The Sea Mar
Pintura de Sergio Lucena, Fotografia de Alberto Alves. Presented by Leyla Kiyomura. Espaço Cultural Lugar Pantemporâneo. São Paulo, SP

2010, Self Portrait and “Self Portrait”
Espaço Cultural Lugar Pantemporâneo. São Paulo, SP

2010, Place
JoSlaviero&Guedes Art Gallery. Curated by Olívio Guedes. São Paulo, SP

2008, The Magic moment of creation
Espaço Cultural Citi - CitiBank Institution. Curated by Jacob Klintowitz. São Paulo, SP

2008, The Nude
JoSlaviero&Guedes Art Gallery. Curated by Olívio Guedes. São Paulo, SP

2008, Faces of realism
Espaço Cultural Citi - CitiBank Institution. Curated by Jacob Klintowitz. São Paulo, SP

2007, São Paulo International Workshop of Visual Arts
Centro Cultural Blue Life in partnership with Intituto AUM and Remisen Akademi. Brande/Denmark. São Paulo, SP

2005, 13th International Workshop
Followed by the exhibition Remisen Akademi. Brande, Denmark

2002, Love, my great love
Val de Almeida Jr. Gallery. Curated by Val de Almeida Jr. São Paulo, SP

2002, 1st International Art Fair – Sao Paulo - Brazil
Oca - Ibirapuera.Val de Almeida Jr Gallery. São Paulo, SP

2001, The poetic of death in brazilian culture
Museu de Arte de Santa Catarina. Curated by João Evangelista de Andrade Filho. Florianópolis, SC

1999, Art from Paraiba State: Three decades of painting
Centro Cultural São Francisco. João Pessoa, PB

1998, Artists of three Americas
Museum of the Americas. Organização dos Estados Americanos (OEA). Washington DC, EUA

1992, Germany Today
Laden Gallery. Curated by Frau Müller. Berlim, Alemanha

1991, Germany – Brazil Workshop
Promoted by Deutsch-Brasilianische Kulturelle Vereinigung in Berlin, in partnership with FUNESC, Goethe Institute and the Art Museum of São Paulo. Followed by exhibitions in João Pessoa, Recife, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

1989, Surrealism in Brazil
Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. Curated by José Roberto Teixeira Leite. São Paulo, SP

1988, Paraiba state art scene today
Fundação Espaço Cultural (FUNESC). João Pessoa, PB

------------------

Beauty. Purity. Subtlety.

I always try not to lose touch with the concrete reality in my relationship with the world. When I reflect on the concepts in which my painting is created, as, for example, beauty, a subjective concept, I try to build the thought on solid material basis, represented by the elements of my painting practice: oil, pigments, canvas, etc. To me, what gives conceptual form to painting is the materialization of the painting itself.

As an artist, my theme is human nature. Integrity in human beings is what interests me, considering that their integration with nature and cosmos depends from it. I see that we live in two separate worlds: the natural world of sensitive passions and the world inspired by ideas. The division between these two spheres of reality finds in beauty a place for appeasement. It would act to remove this human contradiction, enabling the bringing together of sensitive knowledge and rational knowledge. In this sense, I see beauty as an important tool to deal with the naturally tragic human fate.

This possibility of communion makes me think of a painting whose essential quality is purity. I do not refer to purity in the ordinary sense of the state or quality of being pure, limpid, without mixture, but as a need for pure intellectual principles, guiding my thought, which seems to me essential to create the painting that I have always searched for in my work; a painting that allows me to interact with the totality, with everything that I am and that surrounds me, the interaction with the Uno. This painting also represents an attitude, an attitude towards life, where there is no place for deception, violence, and authoritarianism. The strength and the power of purity are in the subtle attitude, in the subtlety of gestures and actions, and in the total absence of voluntarism. Sensitive passions and utopian idealizations thus adapt themselves to a tacit agreement provided by the pure enchantment of beauty.

Considering the impact of such a thought in my life, in my behavior, in my way of seeing the world, and in my painting, I was able to come to the conclusion that beauty, purity and subtlety play an important and radical political role in the contemporary world, thus composing the conceptual tripod of my painting.

Sergio Lucena

August 15, 2019




 Works: