Sérgio Leitão
Sérgio Leitão (b. Monte Estoril, Cascais) is an artist trained in Fine Arts (ESAP and University of Vigo). He participated in the Independent Visual Arts Program (MAUMAUS), in multidisciplinary programs (Städelschule, Hordaland Kunstsenter + Bioregion Institute), as well as sculpture/photography programs (AR.CO) and video art (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation).
His work operates through an overlay of references to the avant-garde and hybrid formalizations that articulate images, sounds, and objects to construct a singular poetic imaginary. Connections between nature and technique, weight and lightness, and the multiple uses of language—through image, written/spoken word, and the wandering body—as well as the questioning of boundaries between the natural and artificial, are key to his highly process-oriented artistic practice. Oriented toward a place of intersection between different narratives, his works seek to create spaces in which the borders between reality and fiction dissolve. His methods include crossing different media, engaging with the context of presentation, and the use of archives—often materialized in site-specific installations combining painting, sculpture, and video, as well as autonomous works in various media.
Selected projects have been presented at: ZK/U, Berlin; P////AKT, Amsterdam; LE 18, Marrakech; LE CUBE, Rabat; BINZ39 Foundation, Zurich; PROG, Bern; Sitterwerk Foundation, St. Gallen; Ateliers de Bellevaux, Lausanne; KASKO, Basel; SALÓN, Madrid; FRISE, Hamburg; Konstepidemin Art Center _ Gothenburg Biennial Ext., Gothenburg; DETROIT, Stockholm; WEP Foundation, Groningen; West Cork Arts Centre, Co. Cork; POUSH/MANIFESTO_PARIS+/Art Basel, Aubervilliers/Paris; Atelier LogicoFobista, Porto; The Green Parrot, Barcelona; Brno House of Arts, Brno; SÍM, Reykjavik; HIAP, Helsinki; Rupert, Vilnius; Hordaland Kunstsenter + Bioregion Institute, Bergen; VIAFARINI, Edicola Radetzky and Accademia di Brera, Milan; MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, Rome; Palazzo Bembo, in the context of the Venice Biennale, invited by ECC and GAA Foundations, Amsterdam/Leiden; DÍNAMO and MIRA, Porto; Parallel Vienna, LLLLLL and Notgalerie, Vienna; Vasarely Museum, Budapest; Museum of Avant-Garde / IRA / Marinko Sudak Collection, Zagreb; Centercourt, Munich; KUB, Leipzig; VASiSTAS, Dresden; HfG, Karlsruhe; MAGT, Athens; IZOLYATSIA, Kyiv; Villa Belleville, Paris; Malta Contemporary Art, Valletta; ROSALUX, Berlin; Gasthof (organized by Städelschule), Frankfurt; Manifesta, Amsterdam; Institute of Contemporary Art, Moscow; Kulturni Centar, Belgrade; LandProject, Chiang Mai; Protoacademy, Edinburgh.
Upcoming exhibitions are scheduled at Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik, Berlin; Polo del’900, Turin; Redaktion, Lucerne; and Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, invited by the French Academy of Architecture (Jul–Dec 2025), among other institutions.
He was awarded the FCT International Grant (2009–2013) and the SHUTTLE Grant for the exhibition GLI ORATORI _ THE SPEAKERS, Venice, 2019. In 2024, his work was published by Camera Austria International – Labor für Fotografie und Theorie, Graz.
His work is held in various public and private collections, including MACRO (Rome), VIAFARINI (Milan), Vasarely Museum (Budapest), Brno House of Arts (Brno), IZOLYATSIA (Kyiv), ECC Foundation (Amsterdam), and the Foundation/Museum of Communications (Lisbon).