Claire de Santa Coloma
Claire de Santa Coloma (1983, Buenos Aires, Argentina) lives and works in Lisbon. Her sculptural work is concerned with formal questions that focus on the primordiality of matter (usually wood) and the theme of sculpture itself. The economy of means is one of the governing principals in Santa Coloma’s practice, oftentimes dictating the final shape of the object. The relationship between the viewer and the sculpture is yet another important layer in the reading of her work. Conceptually, it has been the common thread amongst her latest solo shows. Santa Coloma studied direct carving sculpture at Ateliers Beaux Arts de la ville de Paris. At the same time, she obtained a MA in Visual Arts Research at La Sorbonne, Paris. Between 2007 and 2009 she was artist in residence at Casa de Velázquez, Madrid. Between 2009-2010 she attended the Independent Studies programme at MAUMAUS, in Lisbon, with which she participated in the 29th edition of the São Paulo Biennial. In 2010, Santa Coloma participated in the residency at La Belle Alliance (Metropole), at Goethe Institute Lisbon. In 2017 she was invited to join the programme of Lisboa Capital de Cultura Ibero Americana with a residency at Coruchéus studios and a project for Galeria Quadrum. Also in 2017, she won the EDP Foundation New Artists Award (Lisbon 2017). Santa Coloma exhibits her work regularly since 2008. Major solo shows include: Mode of use, 3+1 Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon (2020); Chuva, Appleton – Associação Cultural, Lisbon (2018); Guia Prático para Fazer uma Escultura Básica de Madeira, 3+1 Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon (2014); A escassez nos salvará da catástrofe, 3+1 Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon (2011) and A Experiência da Medida, Carpe Diem Arte e Pesquisa, Lisbon (2010). Group shows include: STONE ALIVE: Uma interpretação cultural das Pedras, curated by Marta Jecu, Museu Geológico, Lisboa (2022); Specific Objects Part I – Works of Figueiredo Ribeiro Collection, curated by Ana Anacleto e João Silvério, Museu Ibérico de Arqueologia e Arte de Abrantes, Abrantes (2022) An Oasis at Sunset, Fundação EDP, MAAT, Lisboa (2020); Constellations III, Berardo Museum, Lisbon (2020); Modern Collection, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon (2018); 1000 anos depois entre Vénus e Marte, works from the Antonio Cachola Collection, Galeria Municipal do Porto, Porto(2017); EDP Foundation New Artists Award, MAAT, Lisbon (2017) ; Excusa Argumental, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Gaz Natural Fenosa, A Coruña (2015); Buenos Aires Art Biennial, Buenos Aires (2013); Geografía Portátil, MUMU, Córdoba, Argentina (2013). Collections include: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal; Fundação EDP, Portugal; Banco Supervielle, Argentina; HRH of Luxembourg; Casa de Velázques, Spain; Deutsche Bank, Portugal; António Cachola, Portugal; amongst other private collections in Belgium, France, Germany, Singapore and Argentina and United States.