Alexandra do Carmo is an artist and researcher whose work bridges drawing, video, performance, and social engagement. She holds a PhD in Artistic Studies Art and Mediations from Nova University (FCSH-IHA), an MFA in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, having studied at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in New York and Ar.CO in Lisbon. She problematises the concept of authorship by displacing the studio to non-artistic workplaces, confronting other realities and subjects, as well as diverse historical, social, and spatial contexts, transforming it into a dynamic site for research and dialogue. Notable projects include: O Ateliê Verde no IC19 (2018) in which situates her studio within the context of suburban allotments along Lisbon’s IC19 highway. These spaces, cultivated by various and often marginalised communities, become sites of artistic intervention. This project underscores her commitment to authorship as a participatory and socially embedded process. Studio Socialis (2010) which examines the artist's studio as a nomadic concept activated in various working spaces in New York City, exposing public understanding of artistic practice and spaces of work in a proposed collaboration. The Steam Shop (or the painter's studio) held at a former munitions factory operating during the II world war on the outskirts of Lisbon (Barcarena) is transformed into a public site of artistic inquiry and memory. Do Carmo engaged with the factory's history of labour by conducting interviews with former workers.A more recent collaboration includes the Red Line Campaign with the Youth Climate Strike in Lisbon, in which the artist engages directly with societal issues and fosters collaborative creation. By situating the studio within the realm of public activism, do Carmo challenges conventional notions of artistic production and underscores the potential of art as a catalyst for social and political engagement. She is currently involved in a collaborative project on Invasive Species at Air 351 in Cascais, with the association Pó de Vir a Ser and the Institute of Radical Imagination. In the near future will participate at the Counterimage conference at the University of Algarve.
Recent Publications
  • 2022
    Alexandra do Carmo & Daniela Salazar. RHA – Journal of Art History, No. 11, Institute of Art History, NOVA FCSH, Lisbon.
    Download PDF
  • 2020
    Teresa Castro, “Earthkeeping / Earthshaking – Art, Feminisms and Ecology,” exhibition at Galeria Quadrum.
    Published in Flash Art.
    Available online at: Buala.org
    Contributor profile: Teresa Castro – Flash Art
  • 2018
    Bruno Marques & Alexandra do Carmo. “Emancipation and Resistance: Suburban Allotments, Spontaneous and Clandestine.”
    Available at:
    Sismógrafo
    Academia.edu
  • 2017
    Alexandra do Carmo & Bruno Marques. “Performance Stories in Portugal: Testimonies of a Living Memory at Quadrum Gallery.”
    Presented at the International Symposium of Portuguese Performance Art, Berardo Museum, July 2016.
    Published in RHA – Journal of Art History, No. 6.
    revistaharte.fcsh.unl.pt
  • 2017
    Alexandra do Carmo. “The Green Studio at IC19,” Interact Magazine, an online journal of Art, Culture, and Technology, issues 26–27, 23 July 2017.
    revistainteract.pt


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Alexandra do Carmo é uma artista e investigadora cujo trabalho estabelece pontes entre o desenho, o vídeo, a performance e a componente social. É doutorada em Estudos Artísticos – Arte e Mediações pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FCSH-IHA), mestre (MFA) em Artes Visuais pelo Pratt Institute, tendo também estudado no Independent Study Program do Whitney Museum em Nova Iorque e na Ar.CO em Lisboa. A artista problematiza o conceito de autoria ao deslocar o atelier para locais de trabalho não-artísticos, confrontando outras realidades e sujeitos, bem como diversos contextos históricos, sociais e espaciais, transformando-o num local dinâmico de investigação e diálogo. Entre os seus projetos mais marcantes incluem-se: O Ateliê Verde no IC19 (2018): no qual situa o seu ateliê no contexto das hortas urbanas ao longo da via rápida IC19, em Lisboa. Estes espaços, cultivados por comunidades diversas e frequentemente marginalizadas, tornam-se locais de intervenção artística. Este projeto sublinha o seu compromisso com a autoria enquanto processo participativo e socialmente integrado. Studio Socialis (2010): que analisa o ateliê do artista como um conceito nómada ativado em vários espaços de trabalho na cidade de Nova Iorque, expondo a percepção pública da prática artística e dos espaços de trabalho numa proposta de colaboração. The Steam Shop (or the painter's studio) [A Oficina de Vapor (ou o ateliê do pintor)]: realizado numa antiga fábrica de munições que operou durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial na periferia de Lisboa (Barcarena), é transformado num local público de questionamento artístico e memória. Alexandra do Carmo relacionou-se com a história laboral da fábrica através da realização de entrevistas a antigos trabalhadores. Uma colaboração mais recente inclui a campanha Linha Vermelha com a Greve Climática Estudantil em Lisboa, na qual a artista se envolve diretamente com questões sociais e fomenta a criação colaborativa. Ao situar o ateliê no domínio do ativismo público, Alexandra do Carmo desafia as noções convencionais de produção artística e destaca o potencial da arte como catalisadora de um envolvimento político. Está envolvida num projeto colaborativo sobre Espécies Invasoras na Air 351, em Cascais, e com a associação Pó de Vir a Ser e o Institute of Radical Imagination. Num futuro próximo participará na conferência Contra-Imagem na Universidade do Algarve.



Publicações recentes:
  • 2022 — Alexandra do Carmo e Daniela Salazar, RHA – Revista de História da Arte, n.º 11, Instituto de História da Arte, NOVA FCSH.
    Link para o artigo (PDF)
  • 2020 — Teresa Castro, “Earthkeeping / Earthshaking – Art, Feminisms and Ecology”, exposição na Galeria Quadrum, Flash Art.
    Artigo disponível em: Buala.org
    Contributo da autora em: Flash Art – Teresa Castro
  • 2018 — Bruno Marques, “Alexandra do Carmo: Emancipação e Resistência – Hortas Suburbanas, Espontâneas e Clandestinas”.
    Disponível em: Sismógrafo
    Publicação académica: Academia.edu
  • 2017 — Alexandra do Carmo e Bruno Marques, “Histórias de Performance em Portugal: Testemunhos de uma memória viva na Galeria Quadrum”.
    Apresentado no Simpósio Internacional de Arte de Performance Portuguesa, Museu Berardo, julho de 2016. Publicado na RHA – Revista de História da Arte, n.º 6.
    revistaharte.fcsh.unl.pt
  • 2017 (julho) — Alexandra do Carmo, “O Ateliê Verde no IC19”, Revista Interact — revista online de Arte, Cultura e Tecnologia, edições 26-27, 23 de julho de 2017.
    revistainteract.pt










RESUME

Academic Training
2018-2023 PhD in Artistic Studies Art and Mediations, Nova University (FCSH-IHA), Lisbon, 
2004-2005 Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, New York, 2004/2005.
2003 Masters of Fine Arts Degree, Pratt Institute, New York, 2003.
1999 Project year in Drawing, Ar.CO, Center of Art and Visual Communication Lisbon.
1998 Advanced Course in Fine Arts, Ar.CO Lisbon.
1996 Drawing course, Ar.CO, Lisbon. 

Solo Exhibitions
The Green Studio at IC 19, Sismografo, Porto, October 2018.
Studio Socialis, Carlos Carvalho Gallery, Lisbon September 2014.
All was captured (even the movements of the goat), Quadrum Gallery, Lisbon 2011.
Office/Commercial, Carlos Carvalho Gallery, Lisbon 2008.
The Other Echo, with the collaboration of Abinadi Meza, Carlos Carvalho Gallery, Lisbon, 2006.
A Willow (Or without Godot), Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2006.
Wild M5 Sala do Veado, National Natural History Museum, Lisbon, 2004.
Micron 005, Lugar Comum-Fábrica da Pólvora, Barcarena, Portugal 2004.
Uma Sala com Repetição de Tudo, Modulo Gallery Lisbon, 2003.

Group Exhibitions
2025 Avenida 2011 um espaço de artistas, CCB, Lisbon, curators Núria Enguita e Marta Mestre
2025 Invasive Species, AIR 351, Cascais, curator Avital Barak.

2024 Corpo Manifestação Transmissões da Performance--Arte nos Feminismos em Portugal, (performance transmissions--art in feminisms in Portugal) curadoria Paula Parente Pinto, Performing the Archive, Porto.
2023 Quadrum 50 anos uma fogueira cultural, curator Paulo Mandes, Quadrum gallery, Lisbon.
2023 A Casa era a Rua, Carlos Carvalho Gallery, curator Alexandre Melo, Lisbon. 
2020 Earthkeeping/Earthshaking, Quadrum gallery, curators Giulia Lamoni e Vanessa Badagliacca, Lisbon.
2016 Internacional Symposium; Performance Portuguese Art, 2 cyles for one archive.Centro Cultural de Belem (CCB), artistic/documental show, curator Cláudia Madeira, Lisbon.
2015 Cerveira Biennial, Vila Nova de Cerveira.
2011 Between Document and Fiction, curator José Carlos Teixeira, Passos Manuel, Maus Hábitos, Porto.
2010 Collecting The New: Recent Aquisitions to the IMMA Collection, Irish Museum of Modern Art,Dublin.
2009 1 Século, 10 Lápis, 100 Desenhos: Viarco Express, Museu da Presidência da República, Lisbon.
2009 Financial District, curator Miguel Amado, International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York.
2009 Lá Fora, curator João Pinharanda, Electricity Museum, Lisbon, 2009.
2008 I Certamen de Dibujo Contemporaneo Pilar Y Andres Centenera Jaraba, Guadalajara, Spain.
2006 The Square Root of Drawing, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, 2006.
2006 The Steam Shop (or The Painter’s Studio), curators Alexandra do Carmo, Liliana Coutinho, Sara Matos, Lugar Comum, Barcarena, Portugal.
2006 Space, Place & Interface, LiveBox Gallery at Ravenswood, Chicago.
2005 E=mc2, curator Miguel Amado, Museum of Science and Technology, Coimbra, Portugal.
2005 Bread Matters III, curator Inês Amado, West Cork Arts Center, Cork.
2005 Whitney Museum Independent Studio Program Exhibition, New York.
2005 Draw, Dwight Hackett Projects, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
2004 Paper and Process, Art Projects International, New York.
2004 New Work Artists in Residence, curator Nathalie Anglès, Location One, New York, 2004.
2003 GO, Liquidacion-Total, Madrid.
2002 Expect the World moinonplus, curator Alexandre Estrela, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin.
2002 Symposium Art Values: Public and Private, Pratt Institute, (selections; Janet Koplos) New York.
2002 Amadeu de Sousa Cardoso- Third Prize, City Museum, Amarante, Portugal.
2000 Desenho, Mitra Gallery, Lisbon.

Residencies/Workshops
Pode Vir a Ser, Évora, Portugal, 2024.
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin 2006.
Location One, New York, 2004.
Triangle Artist’s Workshop, New York, 2004.

Talks/Events
2026 (18 November) Guest artist speaker at Counter Image International Conference--How to speak with(in) the earth? Situated knowledges, unnaming methods, and visions from the threshold, University of Algarve. The Glow on the Marmorarius’s Table: The Alentejo quarry, from the open-air Roman workshop to the excess of the waste heap.

2026 (October ) Guest speaker O Raio da Raia, uma Topia em Curso. Pó de Vir a Ser with the Institute of Radical Imagination (IRI). Sociedade Harmonia (SHE) Évora. Assembly – Art, Mines and Quarries, with Bruno Caracol, Alexandra do Carmo and Carla Magro Dias. Accompanied by Rita Barreira (IRI)
2025 (12 November) Guest speaker at the Masters Degree class Images of Women in Contemporary Art, Nova University, Lisbon.
2025 (16-18 June) Guest speaker at Combart, International Conference of Art, Activism and Citizenship, (Expanded Epistemologies: intersections between art, science and humanities.International conference within the theme transcultural ecologies) Nova University FCSH Lisbon.
2024 (9/07) Interview for project Intimidades Publicas (Public Intimacies), Nova University  Lisbon .
2024 (5/11)  Guest speaker at the Masters Degree Sound and Image, ESAD, Caldas da Rainha.
2024 (24/06) Speaker/artist with exhibition of work at Sala, Ar.Co's department of photography, Lisbon. 
2022 (23/05) Speaker at workshop Práticas Artísticas Confinadas, Resistência e Colectivismo na Pandemia de Covid 19 em Portugal, within the Graduate Seminar 'Crafting the Past: Materials, Materialities, Materialisms', organized by IHC/NOVA, oIN2Past Associated Laboratory, and the Department of History of Art at UCLU. Universidade de Évora.
2022 (05/04 ) Guest artist: Alexandra do Carmo & Joshua Schwebel, pública event within Práticas Artísticas Confinadas's project, Resistência e Colectivismo na Pandemia de Covid 19 em Portugal, Teatro Chão de Oliva, Sintra.
2020 Guest artist: a conversation between Alexandra do Carmo and Bonnie Ora Sherk within Earthkeeping/Earthshaking--Art, Feminisms and Ecology. 
2019 (19, 20/11)  Speaker at ciclo de conferências Campos de Colaboração, Culturgest, Lisboa.
2019 Guest speaker/artist at What is the Archive, Lab3 City/Archive, Lisbon.
2018 Guest speaker/artist with the project The Green Studio at IC 19, within the Seminary Urbanism and Spatial justice The Right to the City, CIAUD/FA-UL Marvila, Lisboa, Lisbon.
2018 Speaker at the International conference Times and Movements of the image, at Politecnical Institute of Leiria, Caldas da Rainha.
2016 Speaker/artist at the international Symposium Performance Stories in Portugal, 2 cycles one archive, CCB Lisbon.
2015 Speaker/artist at Mesa de Montagem, Nova University, presentation of artistic work with Maile Colbert, Lisbon.
2014 Guest artist at ISCTE, presentation and discussion of projects with students, with Luisa Especial, Lisbon.
2013 Guest artist at Residency Unlimited, work presentation of Studio Socialis project with Maud Jaquin and Luisa Especial, New York.

Grants
2018 FCT Foundation for Science and Technology/Nova University for a PhD in Artistic Studies.
2015:  Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for project The green Studio at IC19
2011: City Hall of Lisbon for project All was captured (even the movements of the goat) 
2006: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for project The Steam Shop (or the painter's studio).
2006: The Institute of the Arts for project The Steam Shop (or the painter's studio) 
2004: Luso-American Foundation and Institute of the Arts for residency Location One. 
2004 Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for project Wild m5. 
2001-2003: Gulbenkian Foundation and Luso-American Foundation (scholarship for Masters degree in the USA-Pratt Institute).

Publications
2026 Public Intimacies. Performance and Hybridism with an Interview with Alexandra do Carmo https://monographs.uc.pt/iuc/catalog/book/607

2020 Flash Art “Earthkeeping / Earthshaking – Art, Feminisms and Ecology” Galerias Municipais – Galeria Quadrum / Lisbon, por Teresa Castro, 2020—https://flash---art.com/contributor/teresa-castro/ Giulia Lamoni e Vanessa Badagliacca Catálogo da exposição Earthkeeping Earthshaking, Galeria Quadrum.
https://www.buala.org/pt/cara-a-cara/percurso-que-fizemos-em-conjunto-conversa-com-as-curadoras-de-earthkeeping-earthshaking-?fbclid=IwAR2gZbSgTyqNIZPqzxevalpxhDC8-m0OHZv9fuJjIai12lJ9G4E2AgXP9BU,
Alexandra do Carmo e Daniela Salazar A Platform of Theoretical Connections Between Artistic Practices, Processes and Curatorial Apparatus RHA 11 https://institutodehistoriadaarte.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/RHA_W11-1.pdf
2018 Bruno Marques, Alexandra do Carmo :Emancipation and Resistance : suburban Allotments, espontaneous and clandestine. https://www.academia.edu/38001548/ALEXANDRA_DO_CARMO._EMANCIPATION_AND_RESISTANCE_SUBURBAN_ALLOTMENTS_SPONTANEOUS_AND_CLANDESTINE_
2017 Alexandra do Carmo, The Green Studio at IC19, Interact online magazine, http://interact.com.pt/26/o-atelier-verde-no-ic-19/ .
2017 Cláudia Madeira, A (NON) REPRESENTATIVE SHOW OF THE PORTUGUESE PERFORMANCE ART, Revista de História da Arte (RHA_W_6). 
2017 Alexandra do Carmo and Bruno Marques, Performance Stories in Portugal: Storytelling at Quadrum in http://revistaharte.fcsh.unl.pt/rhaw6/RHA_W_6.pdf
2011 Catarina ROSENDO, Representations of a Community of Experience in Alexandra do Carmo. "Tudo foi captado (mesmo os movimentos do cabrito)". "Everything was captured (even the movements of the goat)", Lisboa, Galeria Quadrum.
2011 Catarina Rosendo e Lígia Afonso, Quadrum Arquivo Paralelo (website) http://quadrumarquivoparalelo.blogspot.com/p/alexandra-do-carmo-tudo-foi-captado.html .
2010 (05/28) Elizabeth FITZHERBERT, “Latest Additions to IMMA's Permanent Collection Provoke Thought,”The Wall Street Journal.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB127499343055497949.html .
2010 (May) Simon JUDGE and Ruth KENNY, “Collecting the New,” The Dubliner Magazine.
2009 João PINHARANDA [et al.] “Artistas Portugueses Lá Fora (Portuguese Artists Abroad)”. Lisboa: Museu da Electricidade.  
2009 (March/April) David BARRO, Animal Gaze. NY Arts Magazine.
2009 Pedro RAPOULA, (ed.) Um século, Dez lápis, Cem desenhos. Lisboa : Museu da Presidência da República.
2008 Nuno CUNHA, “A Search oneʼs own Artistic Practice,” E-Vai online arts magazine.
2008 David BARRO, “Las fissuras perceptivas de Alexandra do Carmo”, in Office/Commercial, Dardo ds/ Galeria Carlos Carvalho, Santiago de Compostela/Lisboa.
2008 Bruno MARQUES Prospective Memory for an artist studio in Brooklyn in Office/Commercial catalogue,Dardo ds/ Galeria Carlos Carvalho, Santiago de Compostela/Lisboa.
2006 Bruno MARQUES, The Steam Shop (or the painter's studio)' From the expansion of the Studio to an anthropological view of the site’. http://www.interfaceartecontemporanea.org/ensaios_criticos.htm
2006 Miguel von Hafe PÉREZ (ed.) Anamnese. Porto: Fundação Ilídio Pinho.
Collections (selection).
2005 http://www.studiovisit.net, Dinosaur Drawings i.e. in www.anamnese.pt.
2004 Jonathan GOODMAN, Time’s Archeologist ,2007--The Monkeys Gaze, i.e. in www.anamnese.pt. Ilidio Pinho Foundation.
2004 Robert KNAFO On the Paleontology-Democracy Continuum.
2004 (9/18) Luisa Soares de OLIVEIRA Looking for Fragments, in Público. 

Collections
Irish Museum of Modern Art
Ilidio Pinho Foundation
Colecção Norlinda e José Lima