1973, Terra Boa, PR, Brazil. Lives and works in São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Vanderlei Lopes's practice has been a trajectory of experimentation with various media, culminating in sculptures, objects or situations from everyday life, transformed and perpetuated in materials such as gunpowder, gold, ceramics, bronze or sound. Lopes' works articulate and problematize the various social and cultural environements in which they are inserted or for which they are thought. Notions of the process of social and cultural construction such as language, actions, spatial relations of circulation, hierarchies, and various cultural values - from religious, heritage, and market relations - are articulated and discussed in his work. In Lopes’ work, the interest in questions of temporality arises in constant friction, providing mentions of specific historical distances and the immediate here-and-now.

He graduated in fine arts from Unesp - Universidade Estadual Paulista, in 2000, and and since the 1990s has been part of exhibitions in several museums and galleries. Among his main participations in collective shows are: Bienal de Arte Paiz, Ciudad de Guatemala, (2021); Mana Contemporary, Chicago, USA (2019); Transparência e reflexo, MuBE - Brazilian Museum of Sculpture and Ecology, São Paulo, Brazil (2016); Uma coleção particular - Arte Contemporânea no Acervo da Pinacoteca, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil (2015); Nova Arte Nova, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil (2008/2009).

Among his solo exhibitions are: Newspapers, Art Basel Miami, USA (2019); Domo, at Capela do Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil (2017); Grilagem, Museu de Arte Moderna - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2014); Transitorio, Galeria Nueveochenta, Bogotá, Colombia (2014); Cavalo, Galeria Marília Razuk, São Paulo, Brazil (2013). Lopes was awarded the Pirelli prize at Art Rio in 2016 and nominated four times for the Pipa prize. He received the Proac Award in 2016.

His work is present in collections such as MAM-SP - Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, MAC-USP – Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo; MAR-RJ - Museu de Arte do Rio de Janeiro; MAM-RJ- Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro; Instituto Cultural Itaú, São Paulo; Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto, among others.