Cristiano Mangovo
Biography
CRISTIANO MANGOVO BRÁS WAS BORN IN 1982 IN ANGOLA AND NOW LIVES AND WORKS IN LISBON.
As a child, Cristiano Mangovo had to flee the civil war in Angola and found refuge in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa.
Mangovo’s paintings are based on a personal pictorial language in which he plays with reality. He composes new but recognisable beings by combining universal visual elements. His composite creatures, hybrid assemblages of human, animal and vegetable elements, are all new forms, emerging from the scattered bodies. White ties, sleeves and trousers randomly dress the reassembled members.
The double mouth is omnipresent in Cristiano Mangovo's art and provides his work with a political dimension. This motif finds its roots in the regime led by José Eduardo dos Santos, president of Angola – Mangovo’s homeland – from 1979 to 2017. Condemning an unsaid dictatorial regime where public opinion was strictly controlled, Mangovo uses his two-mouthed characters as the vocal objectors of this censorship, freeing them from lasting repression. His canvases fight ignorance and raise awareness. The artist who considers himself a "bird reporter" hence becomes a messenger.
Mangovo’s first individual exhibition was held in 2013 at the Art and Culture Foundation in Luanda. In 2014, he won the Mirella Antognoli Argela award from the Italian Embassy and the Ensa-Art prize from AllianceFrançaise in Luanda which led him to participate in an artist-in-residence program at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. He exhibited at the Angolan Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015. Since, he took part in numerous group and solo shows internationally (Portugal, France, Italy, South Africa, DRC, USA,...).
Works
Exhibitions
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Ce que nous donne la terre
Group Show 6 Jul - 23 Sep 2023The group show Ce que nous donne la terre (What the Earth Gives Us) is a call to pay attention to our environment, its mutations and the depletion of its resources.Read more -
Humano e a Natureza
Cristiano Mangovo 6 Nov - 7 Dec 2021In a climate of environmental crisis, where human activity is causing irreversible climate change, Angolan artist Cristiano Mangovo brings to bear the dominant relation of humans over nature. If it...Read more
Art Fairs
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1-54 New York
NYC | USA 19 - 22 May 2022EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Salifou Lindou Moustapha Baidi Oumarou Cristiano Mangovo Jean David Nkot Crystal Yayra Anthony Boluwatife OyediranRead more -
AKAA
Paris | France 12 - 14 Nov 2021EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Cristiano Mangovo Ousmane Niang Jean David Nkot Marc PossoRead more -
Art Paris
Paris | France 9 - 12 Sep 2021EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Salifou Lindou Saïdou Dicko Cristiano MangovoRead more -
1-54 New York
ONLINE EDITION 17 - 23 May 2021EXHIBITING ARTISTS : Moustapha Baidi Oumarou Saïdou Dicko Cristiano Mangovo Jean David Nkot Marc Posso We are pleased to participate in the 1-54 New York...Read more
