RIO DE JANEIRO.- CHÃO e|and CHAOS + AQUI [HERE], by João Modé, opened, August 27, in the basement of the Museu Universitário Solar Grandjean de Montigny, PUC-Rio, as part of Respiração [Breath], the group exhibition that inaugurates ART CUT'26, the Triennial of Catholic Universities. With the theme Exercícios de Empatia [Exercises in Empathy] and Nuno Crespo as chief curator, Respiração [Breath] is co-curated by Luiz Camillo Osorio and Carlos Eduardo Félix da Costa and organized around three thematic sections: Suspirar [Sigh], Respirar [Breathe] and Conspirar [Conspire].

Created especially for the Triennial, CHÃO e|and CHAOS + AQUI [HERE] responds to the physical characteristics and history of the Solar, bringing together elements of its architecture and research into the space and its surroundings. Among the interventions, Modé covers part of the floor with clay, a material widely used in construction, through subtle interventions that reveal details of the space and engage with its arches, ceiling height, reduced room dimensions and humidity. Modé's occupation also incorporates objects from the Solar's historical research, such as a bamboo arbour, and includes the projection of AQUI [HERE].

AQUI [HERE], ongoing since 2009, is an autonomous film projected in the exhibition. The work brings together photographic documentation of journeys and displacements made by Modé since the late 1980s and reflects on the relationship between photography, space, time and memory. The emphasis is on places, at both micro and macro scales, as spaces of affective memory and poetic geography. No people appear; sometimes, only voices. In the artist's words, “O projeto AQUI pretende questionar o papel da fotografia na formação de uma memória espacial e temporal.” The work received the Prêmio Funarte Marc Ferrez de Fotografia in 2012.

The exhibition is on view through November 15, 2026, with free admission, at the Museu Universitário Solar Grandjean de Montigny, PUC-Rio.

João Modé (b. 1961) is a Brazilian artist who lives and works in Rio de Janeiro. He holds degrees in Architecture and Visual Programming, and has a master’s degree in Visual Languages from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He was a founding member of the Visorama group, which promoted debates about contemporary art issues between the late 1980s and the 1990s. His work is articulated through a plural notion of languages and fields of action. Since 2013, he has been developing a group of textile works that he calls ‘Constructive [Little Cloth]’. Using sewing and embroidery, the artist appropriates dishcloths, sheets, and handkerchiefs from his daily life to create works that pay tribute to the geometric/abstract tradition of Brazilian art; a form of ‘affective-constructive’.





In 2026, João Modé participates in the group exhibition “Casa Fluminense”, presenting the REDE Project at Casa Brasil, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the same year, he participates in the Vatican Triennial, titled “Exercises in Empathy”, with the works CHÃO e [and CHAOS] + AQUI, presented at Solar Grandjean de Montigny, PUC-Rio, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In 2025, he participated in the VI Bienal del Sur: “Pueblos en Resistencia: El Poder de la Diversidad”, in Caracas, Venezuela. He also presented the solo exhibition “Junção” at Paço Imperial, in Rio de Janeiro, and participated in the group exhibitions “Concordar em Discordar”, at A Gentil Carioca, in São Paulo, and “O Fiar – Pontos, Nós, Corte”, at Casa de Cultura do Parque, in São Paulo.

Since the 1980s, João Modé has been developing a continuous artistic practice, marked by his participation in significant exhibitions, including “Como vai você, geração 80?”, held in 1984 at the Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage, in Rio de Janeiro; “O Visual do Rock”, in 1985, at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (MAM/RJ); and, later, the exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Museu de Arte Moderna de Resende (MAM), in 2000, in Resende, Rio de Janeiro.

João Modé’s works are part of collections such as the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (Brazil), São Paulo Museum of Modern Art – MASP (Brazil), Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro – MAM (Brazil), Frac Bretagne (France), among others.