Rodrigo Cass
Curators: João Sarmento SJ & Nuno Crespo
Opening:
20 MAY · 18:30 · Sala de Exposições da EA (Porto)
26 MAY · 18:00 · Brotéria (Lisbon)
Sensitive Geometry, the first individual exhibition by artist Rodrigo Cass in Portugal, organised by the School of Arts at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in collaboration with Brotéria, will open in two moments: at the School of Arts in Porto on 20 May, and at Brotéria in Lisbon on 26 May.
At the heart of the exhibition lies the notion of “sensitive geometry,” which manifests itself in the forms, colors, and gestures that run through the works. More than a strictly formal approach, this geometry reveals itself as a field of tension between rationality and intuition, where geometric structures interplay with sensory and affective experiences. Thus, Rodrigo Cass’s work expands into a dimension where gestures activate planes and objects, establishing dynamic relationships between matter and perception, while evoking a mystical dimension traversed by the four elements—earth, water, air, and fire—as primordial forces that inform, transform, and vitalize.
Rodrigo Cass (São Paulo, 1983) dialogues with the constructive tradition in Brazilian art through a formal vocabulary that alludes to the Concrete and Neoconcrete experiments of the 1960s and 1970s. The artist’s interest in intersections and fractures of the pictorial plane is noticeable, leading to his surfaces acquiring volumetric dimensions in space, in canvases, reliefs and videos. Concrete, fiberglass and linen, colored with tempera, are some of his most used materials. Projected onto sculptural objects, Cass’s video works merge the physicality of performance with pictorial logic, in which color and texture appear as an element in the construction of space. In tune with the technically hybrid and conceptually versatile character of Rodrigo Cass’s practice, bodily gestures communicate with brushstrokes on the surface of the painting, creating a field of resonances between formal possibilities and a virtual spatiality.
His recent solo exhibitions include Rodrigo Cass: A Joyner/Giuffrida Visiting Artist Program, Nevada Museum of Art, Nevada, USA (2025); libera abstrahere, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, Brazil (2023); Figures, Gestures and Passages, Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, USA (2019); Espiritual-Vivente-Respira, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, Brazil (2018); Mundo Vasto Mundo, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel | Escritório Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal (2018) and Até o Concreto, Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo, Brazil (2016). Cass was also featured in the relevant group shows 13° Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2025); Nunca só essa mente, nunca só esse mundo, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel | Carpintaria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2023); Rosas Brasileiras, Farol Santander, São Paulo, Brazil (2023); The Square São Paulo, Casa de Vidro, São Paulo, Brazil (2023); AAA – Antologia de Arte e Arquitetura, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, Brazil (2020); Cities in Dust, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel | Carpintaria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2020) and The Way Objects Go, Belgrade Cultural Center, Belgrade, Serbia (2017).
The artist’s work has been included in important public collections, such as Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; TBA21 – Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, Austria; MAM – Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Pinacoteca de Piracicaba, Piracicaba, Brazil; Fundação Rômulo Maiorama, Belém, Brazil; Casa do Olhar Luiz Sacilotto, Santo André, Brazil.
