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SANDRO AKEL

Sandro Akel (Rio de Janeiro, 1971), one of the founders of the prestigious Bijari collective, has pursued an artistic career for 32 years. Since 2011, the artist has resided and developed his work in the Barra Funda neighborhood of São Paulo, Brazil.

As co-founder of the Bijari collective, he created works that guided the convergence of visual arts and technologies applied to large-scale installations, urban interventions, and multimedia actions.

This experience with various media and a keen eye for street life, along with a fine and powerful drawing style, led in 2011 to the need to dedicate himself exclusively to painting. From then on, he created panels and paintings that connect with urban language through collages and overlapping posters found on streets around the world (Berlin, London, New York), now incorporating large-scale drawing, redefining dimensions and points of view.

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Pencil drawing of artist Sandro Akel's face. Black background and red lines

His work has gained momentum and is singularly redefining Brazilian urban pop art. "... Akel maintains the characteristic aesthetic of his creations and flirts with drawing, with the pictorial aspect...", as set designer and visual artist Zé Carratu defines it.Sandro Akel's art is a testament to his creative vision, technical expertise, and thought-provoking concepts. Through his fusion of recycled posters and wax-mixed techniques, he has carved out a unique niche in the contemporary art scene, drawing attention to the issue of waste and consumption in modern society.

Artistic work by Sandro Akel, called The Jump

Despite the seemingly random selection of posters and the fluidity of the waxes, his pieces are meticulously arranged and composed. By incorporating these discarded materials into his compositions, he not only gives them new life but also adds layers of history and urban context to his artwork. Beyond the technical aspects, Akel's art also conveys a strong social and environmental message.

His works have been shown in several group and solo exhibitions and have achieved great recognition among collectors and the general public for establishing a strong connection between the streets and contemporary society; the erudite and refined touch present in his drawings.

MIX OF WAXES

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técnica encaustica

Video produced by Wtfilm

Directed by: Bruno Cabral @brnohc and Haruo Kaneko @brwaxx
Photography Direction: Leandro Realista @le_realista and Rafael Szalai @szalai
Photography Ass: Kauan Diosergi @kakau_skt
Production: Pedro Calderan @pedro__calderan
Editing and Color: @wtfilmoficial

CLIPPING

2025

       - Exhibition by Sandro Akel and André Passos at BaFu opens on the 10th

       - Exhibition combines photography with mold and street posters in São Paulo
       - André Passos and Sandro Akel present the exhibition “Flux and Fragment”
 


2024


2023

 

2021


2019


2018

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2017

2016


2012


2011

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2010

 

2007

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2006

  • Sambaquis exhibition - IQ Art Gallery - São Paulo - SP 

  • Exhibition Estrecho Dudoso – San José – Costa Rica

  • Monumenta – Pelotas - RS

  • Exhibition Qui Vive? – Moscow – Russia

  • Exhibition Steps, Views – Mexico City - Mexico

  • IX Havana Biennial – Special Room Território SP – São Paulo

  • Exhibition La Normalidad – Buenos Aires – Argentina

  • Exhibition Mutantes na Parede – Espaço CEL 1121 – São Paulo – SP

 

2005

  • Claro que é rock - Curated - São Paulo - Rio de Janeiro

  • Motomix - Visual Arts Curatorship - São Paulo - SP

  • Documenta de Kassel - Colectiv Creativity – Kassel – Germany 

  • Exhibition Galeria Favo – São Paulo - SP

  • E- FLUX Virtual Gallery – Berlin – Germany 

  • Jamac – Galeria Vermelho – São Paulo – SP

  • Cubo Project, multimedia intervention – São Paulo – SP

  • Architecture of (R)existence – Instituto Cultural Capobianco – São Paulo – SP

  • Resfest 2005 – São Paulo – SPLands in Transit – New York

 

2004

  • VMB MTV – Art Direction Award – São Paulo – SP

  • E- FLUX Virtual Gallery – New York 

  • Lands in Transit – Mexico

  • File – São Paulo – SP

  • Heterodoxy – Memorial da América Latina – São Paulo – SP

  • Resfest 2004 – São Paulo – SP

  • 28th São Paulo Audiovisual Exhibition – CCBB – São Paulo – SP.

  • Cultural Vigil 2 – São Paulo – SP

  • Digitophagy – Museum of Image and Sound – São Paulo – SP

  • Frankelstein Hall – São Paulo – SP

  • BH International Short Film Festival – Belo Horizonte – MG

  • Olhar Paulista 2 – Instituto Cervantes – São Paulo – SP

  • Action Zone – Sesc Paulista – São Paulo – SP

  • Environmental Interference Group: May Salon – Salvador 

  • BAVII Graphic Design Biennial/ADG – Prize – Memorial of Latin America – São Paulo – SP

  • A Journey of 450 years – Sesc Pompéia – São Paulo – SP​


2003

  • Resfest 2003 - São Paulo - SP. 

  • Vila Buarque Cultural Circuit 24h - São Paulo - SP.

  • VIII Havana Biennial - Havana - Cuba

  • São Paulo Audiovisual Exhibition - CCBB - São Paulo - SP

  • Next Five Minutes 5 - Tactical Media Brazil - Casas das Rosas – SP

  • Urban action Armário – Sesc Pompéia – São Paulo – SP

  • Laboratory Project – itinerant multimedia performances and interventions – SP

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2002

  • Red Bull Live Images - Galpão das Américas - São Paulo – SP

  • Open Opera - Casa das Rosas - São Paulo - SP

  • Imaginary Mexico - Casa das Rosas - São Paulo – SP

  • X São Paulo Salon of Contemporary Art - Galeria do Rock - São Paulo - SP

  • VI Graphic Design Biennial/ADG - Sesc Pompéia - São Paulo – SP

  • Multimedia urban intervention May 24th - Sesc May 24th - São Paulo – SP

  • Laboratory Project – itinerant multimedia performances and interventions – SP

 

2001

  • III Mercosul Biennial - City of Containers - Porto Alegre - RS

  • Museum of Contemporary Art of Goiás – Goiânia - GO

  • Transverse Reality - Casa das Rosas - São Paulo – SP

  • Antipop urban action: Galinha - Laboratório - São Paulo – SP

  • Laboratory Project – itinerant multimedia performances and interventions – SP

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1996

  • Co-founder of the art collective BijaRi, a creation center that develops projects at the convergence of art, design, and technology. The group worked between analogue and digital media, proposing artistic experiments, especially of a critical nature. Urban interventions, performances, installations, video art and design are ways to establish possibilities for experiences where reality is amplified. They participated in exhibitions in Brazil and abroad, such as: Biennial of Havana-Cuba, Biennial of Mercosul-Brazil, Biennial of Ushuaia-Argentina, Qui Vivi?- Russia, Collective Creativity-Germany, Estrecho Dudoso-Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States​

Âncora 1
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Fundo da Barra
Bijari Collective logo
Model wearing a short ruffled dress during the Raya de Goeye fashion show
Visual artists Zé Carratu and Sandro Akel, on an apartment balcony, surrounded by paintings
painting by Sandro Akel using the encaustic technique
Photo of the work Salto by Sandro Akel, located in Minhocão São Paulo

Visual Artist

SANDRO AKEL

Sandro Akel logo
old dial telephone

+55 11 98160-8158

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© 2023 by Daniela Goios

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