The Brazilian painter Maxwell Alexandre, 32, has soared rapidly in the art world, with solo exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the MAC Lyon, the David Zwirner Gallery in London, and recently the Shed, New York, and La Casa Encencida in Madrid.
Formerly a professional roller-skater from Rochina, a favela of Rio de Janeiro,
Alexandre includes references to the local culture, from scenes of confrontation with the police to symbols of football or church. Popular culture, in the form of logos, brands, and iconic personalities, also populates his work.
¿It was not a political choice. It was a self-portrait. I¿m Black, I¿m painting Black people. The first four paintings I did on pardo [Pardo é Papel series] were self-portraits before I realized the meaning of pardo. I never wanted to be a banner of the identity of Black people in the favela, but it was my own identity,¿ he explains.
In this book, Maxwell Alexandre presents his new series, ¿Delivery¿. In this new body of work, he moves away from the brown kraft paper that has been the signature support for his ¿Pardo é Papel¿ series, to painting directly onto doors. As the name suggests, at the center of this series are the (mostly) men and women who assure the food delivery services that have become ubiquitous worldwide.
Maxwell Alexandre¿s work is in the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, the Museu de arte de São Paulo (MASP) and the Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR) collections. The artist was in residency at the Delfina Foundation (London, 2018), then later at the MAC Lyon (2019). He is represented by the gallery A Gentil Carioca (Rio).
