João Vasco Paiva (b.1979, Coimbra, Portugal) is a Hong Kong-based artist who observes the complex and continuously shifting characteristics of objects and spaces. Interested in semantics – the visual language each structure, perimeter and component may possess – Paiva examines the particular lexicon of constructed, detruded or neglected units, systematically documenting, analysing and abstracting them to compose a process-driven composition that is simultaneously an artwork.

 

At the heart of Paiva’s practice is an interest in deciphering the constructed sum of human activities, and using modes of production and fabrication to peel the intricate layers that comprise the structures of contemporary life.

 

João Vasco Paiva is considered one of Hong Kong’s leading emerging contemporary artists and has been exhibited widely in museums as well as galleries from Hong Kong and Portugal to the UK, Australia, Hungary and New York. Recently, Paiva was selected for the Encounters section of Art Basel Hong Kong 2015 by Alexie Glass-Kantor, completed a residency at Lichtenberg Studios, Berlin and was part of a group exhibition at the Witte de With, Rotterdam as well a travelling exhibition at Artsonje, Seoul, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shanghai and MAAP, Brisbane. Furthermore, Paiva held a major solo exhibition at the Orient Foundation in Macau and upcoming exhibitions include a solo show at Counter Space, Zurich. Finally, Paiva is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Hong Kong Emerging Artist Grant and the International Artist Support Grant awarded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Portugal.