# Tunga (artist)

Antonio José de Barros Carvalho e Mello Mourão (February 8, 1952 – June 6, 2016), known professionally as Tunga, was a Brazilian sculptor and performance artist. Tunga was born in Palmares, Pernambuco, Brazil.
His erudition and philosophical background were reflected in an increasingly conceptual artistic output, which involves the intersection with research in different knowledge fields and a dialogue with literature, philosophy, psychoanalysis, theatre, exact sciences and biology. His work is powerful, profound and self-referential, denies linear time and relies heavily on materiality, symbologies and processes of transformation and metamorphoses.

## Career

The Art Newspaper called him "One of Brazil's best-known contemporary artists." As early as he became aware of Brazilian modernism in 1970, he began his career by making sculptures and drawings.
In 1974 he completed a course in architecture and urbanism at Santa Ursula University, in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2005, Tunga became the first contemporary artist to exhibit his work at the Louvre in the museum's history during an installation called "A la Lumiere des Deux Mondes" ("The Meeting of Two Worlds"). One of Tunga's favorite practices was drawing, and he made his first solo show in 1974 at Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro entirely dedicated to this medium.
He died in Rio de Janeiro on June 6, 2016, at the age of 64, of cancer.

## Collections (selection)

The artwork of Tunga is featured in the permanent collections of museums and institutions around the world. These include the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Tate Modern in London, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, and the Instituto de Arte Contemporânea Inhotim in Brumadinho, which features two major pavilions permanently dedicated to his work.
In Inhotim, Tunga's work has been presented alongside international artists Olafur Eliasson, Hélio Oiticica, Adriana Varejão, and Rivane Neuenschwander, among others. Some private collections also display his works, such as the V+R Sapoznik Art Collection.

## Individual exhibitions (selection)

-1974 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The Child Masturbation Museum, at the Rio de Janeiro Museum of Modern Art - MAM/RJ.
-1975 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at the MAM/RJ.
-1976 - São Paulo SP - Tunga: drawings and objects, at Galeria Luisa Strina.
-1979 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Pálpebras, at Centro Cultural Candido Mendes -1980 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Espaço ABC.
-1981 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Raquel Arnaud -1982 - Rio de Janeiro Art Office RJ - Individual, at Candido Mendes Cultural Center.
-1983 - São Paulo SP - As Jóias da Senhora de Sade, at Raquel Arnaud Art Office.
-1984 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Braids, at GB ARTe.
-1985 - São Paulo SP - Tunga: sculptures, at the Raquel Arnaud Art Office.
-1986 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Galeria Saramenha.
-1989 - Chicago (United States) - Option 37: Tunga, at Museum of Contemporary Art.
-1989 - London (England) - Individual, at Whitechapel Art Gallery.
-1989 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Galeria Paulo Klabin.
-1989 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the Raquel Arnaud Art Office.
-1990 - Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Individual, at Pulitzer Art Gallery.
-1990 - Glasgow (Scotland) - Individual, at The Third Eye Center.
-1990 - Toronto (Canada) - Interceptions, at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery.
-1991 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Preliminaries of Palíndromo Incest, at GB ARTe.
-1991 - São Paulo SP - Preliminaries of Palíndromo Incest, at Galeria Millan.
-1992 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Sero Te Amavi, at Galeria Saramenha.
-1992 - São Paulo SP - Antigas Minúcias, at Marília Razuk Art Gallery.
-1992 - São Paulo SP - Sero Te Amavi, at Galeria Millan.
-1994 - New York (United States) - Tunga: installations and sculptures, at The Museum of Contemporary Art.
-1994 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Tunga: sculptures, at Galeria Paulo Fernandes.
-1994 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Luisa Strina.
-1994 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Millan.
-1995 - New York (United States) - Sero Te Amavi, at The New Museum of Contemporary Art.
-1996 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria André Millan.
-1996 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Luisa Strina.
-1997 - Miami (United States) - Tunga: 1977–1997, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Joan Lehman Building.
-1997 - New York (United States) - Tunga: 1977–1997, at the Center for Curatorial Studies.
-1997 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Tunga, at Galeria Thomas Cohn.
-1998 - Caracas (Venezuela) - Tunga: 1977–1997, at Museo Alejandro Otero.
-1999 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Luisa Strina .
2001 - Paris (France) - Individual, at Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume.
-2001 - São Paulo SP - Resgate, at CCBB -2004 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Millan Antonio