Maxwell Alexandre

Maxwell Alexandre is a contemporary Brazilian artist whose practice encompasses painting, installation, and performance. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1990, he grew up in Rocinha, where he continues to live and work. Before pursuing art, he was a professional roller-skater—an experience that profoundly shaped his perception of movement and urban space. He graduated in Design from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) in 2016. In 2018, Alexandre staged what he described as his “artistic baptism” during his first solo gallery exhibition, O Batismo de Maxwell Alexandre, at A Gentil Carioca in Rio de Janeiro. Combining large-scale painting and performance, the event featured Brazilian rapper BK’ in the ceremonial role of priest. Alexandre also co-founded the “Church of the Kingdom of Art,” known as A Noiva, an initiative supporting alternative forms of artistic creation in Brazil. Alexandre’s work is held in major Brazilian museum collections, including those of the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP), and the Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR). He participated in a residency at the Delfina Foundation in London in 2018 and presented Pardo é Papel at the Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon in 2019—his first solo exhibition outside Brazil. In December 2020, he presented his first solo exhibition in the United Kingdom, Pardo é Papel: Close a Door to Open a Window, at David Zwirner in London. At the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Alexandre presented New Power (2021–2022) as part of the institution’s “Six Continents or More” season. The project featured large-scale compositions populated by Black figures occupying the predominantly white space of the gallery. By placing Afro-Brazilian subjects at the center of scenes combining everyday life, cultural iconography, and political symbolism, Alexandre challenged the conventions of Eurocentric art history. His works juxtapose references to European classical painting with visual elements drawn from hip-hop culture, street art, and mural painting. Images of confrontations with the police, consumer logos, religious and sporting symbols, and figures from global popular culture and political history allow him to investigate how identity, power, and representation circulate within art and society. Alexandre describes painting as a form of “prophetic practice,” emphasizing the visibility, empowerment, and emancipation of Afro-Brazilian bodies within contexts historically shaped by exclusionary narratives. His work has been exhibited extensively in Brazil and internationally, establishing him as a significant figure in contemporary painting and in current debates surrounding race, power, culture, and the politics of visibility.