Biography
Januario Jano during the performance "Homo supper" at Primo Marella Gallery
Januario Jano during the performance "Homo supper" at Primo Marella Gallery
Januario Jano is an interdisciplinary visual artist who works across sculpture, video, photography, textile, sound installation, and performance. He holds a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths University in London and his practice is substantially research-based.
 
Enthralled with the hypothesis of a delicate balance between fiction and reality, his practice reflects on ideas of home and self, constantly challenging historic and contemporary narratives within the context of the growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations. Januario Jano is interested in deepening investigation into culture production and identity.
 
Januario’s work has been exhibited internationally and is included in notable private and public collections. His commitment to cultural and social engagement led him to establish Pés Descalços, a cultural and philanthropic collective focused on developing and promoting artistic and cultural projects in Angola. The collective complements the need for intervention in a sustained and grounded manner to enhance the current cultural reinvention taking place in that country. Since 2012, Januario has also been the driving force to help rewrite Angola’s next chapter, from civil war-torn state to innovation hub with the launch of TEDxLuanda, which he organizes and curates.
This year Januario’s included in the First Biennial Of African Photography in Spain, group exhibition at The Museum Of African Art in Belgrade, shortlisted for the second edition for The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize, completed a three months residency at Deveron Project, awarded Honorary Mention of the The QSPA 2022, his first due exhibition in Japan at the Standing Pine gallery, additionally, his solo exhibition Imbambas: Unsettled Feelings of an Object and Self at Kristin Hjelledjerde gallery in London selected to the Top 5 best exhibitions to see in London in January according to FAD magazine. In 2021 Januario’s first major solo exhibition at Gallery Jean-Claude Maier in Frankfurt, curated by Mahret Ifeoma Kupka, the exhibition has been reviewed on major art platforms and was named a “Top 5” best exhibition to see in the E.U. by Frieze magazine. Januario’s work was also featured in a group show at the Tree Art Museum in Beijing. In addition, Januario was selected for the Vantage Point Sharjah 9 project by the Sharjah Foundation, also performing at Goldsmiths CCA in London, and was one of the selected artists for Poldra 2021, a sculpture park project in Viseu, Portugal. He also participated in a “Masterclass” at Circuit by Braga Media Arts 2021 in Braga, Portugal.
In 2020 Januario participated in several group exhibitions both as artist and curator, including the London Grads Now at Saatchi Gallery in London, Departure in Lisbon, and many others. In addition, he was one of the speakers at the Loeries Creative Week 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
 
Januario has been the recipient of multiple awards, including the Honorary Mention for the QSPA 2022, the Deveron Projects Residency 2022, the Art Laguna Prize in 2016, Business for Art prize, and grant from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for the “180 artists to the south” residency program.
Exhibitions
Works
Solo & Group Show
Januario Jano
Januario Jano Specter 2019 - partial detail

Januario Jano CV

Born in 1979, Luanda, Angola

 

EXHIBITIONS

Solo Show

2022

IMBAMBAS: Unsettled Feelings Of An Object And Self, KH Gallery, London

2021

ARQUIVO MESTRE, Jean Claude Maier, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany

2019

BROKEN BODIES, Primae Noctis Art Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland

2017

AMBUNDULANDO, curated by Paula Nascimento and Suzana Sousa, Portuguese Cultural Center, Luanda, Angola.

2016

KWIKA: LOVE OR HATE, curated by Sonia Ribeiro, Galerie Thorigny, Paris, France. FRAGMENTATION 1.0, Curetted by Sonia Ribeiro, Gallery of Economic Bank, Luanda, Angola.

2015

POP ORGY, PROJECT SEEDS OF MEMORY, curated by Suzana Sousa, Milan, Italy

2014PRIVATE SPACE, Gallery Geraldes da Silva, Porto, Portugal.

 

Group Show

2024

Echos der Bruderländer: What is the price of memory and what is the cost of amnesia? Or: Visions and illusions of anti-imperialist solidarities. 

The 35th Bienal de São Paulo – choreographies of the impossible: Traveling Exhibitions.

 2023

An Exhibition of SMALL Things with BIG Ideas ,  White Conduit Projects

Look at Me! ,  Bienalsur 2023

35 Sao Paulo Biennial ,  Choreographies of the Impossible.

Big Mama Thornton ,  Nosco Gallery

DUSK: Art Festival ,  Portugal

2022

Ozangé: Biennial Of African Photography ,  Malaga – Spain

Stories From Africa – Chapter 1 ,  Standing Pine Gallery

Uprising ,  SCHLOSS GOERNE by Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery

KIM KIM ,  White Conduit Project

Dispersed ,  Emerged, VR

With Whom We Mutually Communicate? ,  Copeland Gallery

2022

(IM)MATERIALITY,   NOT A MUSEUM, This is not a white cube, 

REFLECT #2 – Fragments, Fragilities, Memories,  The Museum Of African Art, Belgrade, Serbia

The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize, Norval Foundation Gallery 9, Cape Town

2021

Around the table, No20 arts, LondonVantage Point Sharjah 9, Sharjah Art Foundation, SharjahNew Era For Humanity, Marvilla Art District, LisbonRedirecting, Tree Art Museum, Beijing

2020

Africa Universe II, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan

Departure, Jean-Claude Maier, Lisbon

London Grads Now, Saatchi Gallery, London

Tomorrow: London, White Cube Gallery, London

2018

The Black Sphinx II, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, ItalyThe Black Sphinx II. From Morocco to Madagascar, Primae Noctis Gallery, Lugano, SwitzerlandProject Gallery of Small Things for Dak’art 2018, Curated by Bisi Silva, Dakar, Senegal.

2017

LUUNDA, Curated by Suzana Sousa, Paula Nascimento, Bruno Leita?o, Hangar CIA, Lisbon, Portugal.E.U IN ANGOLA, curated by Keyezua, Portuguese Cultural Center, Luanda, Angola.

2016

COMMUNTING: OS DAS BANDAS, Espelho D ?agua, Lisboa, Portugal.

2015

UNORTHODOX, curated by Jens Hoffman and Kelly Taxter, The Jewish Museum, New York, USA.

2014

NOISE, curated by Suzana Sousa, Portuguese Cultural Center, Luanda, Angola.

 

Selected residencies

2024 Artica - Svalbard, Norway - Residency

2022 The Deveron Projects - Huntly, Scotland - Residency

2019 (WFY) World Youth Forum, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

2017 Hangar CIA - 180 Artists of the South, supported by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal  

 

Projects

2021

Poldra, Sculpture Park, Viseu, PortugalVantage Point, Sharjah Foundation - EAU June Art Fair - Basel

2020

Loeries Creative Week 2020, Johannesburg,South Africa BMA Lab: Masterclass, Braga Media Arts, Braga, PortugalTalk - Gnration, Braga, Portugal

2018

Dakar Art Biennial, Dakar, Senegal.

2017

Luanda Triennial, organized by Sindika Dokolo Foundation, Luanda, Angola.Lagos Art Biennial, Lagos, Nigeria.

2014

St. JORGE ISLAND, curated by Paula de Nascimento and Stefano Rabolli Pansera, Luanda, Milan, Lisbon, London, Porto.

AFRICA NOW BY DESIGN INDABA, curated by, Paula de Nascimento and Stefano Rabolli Pansera, Cape Town, South Africa.

2013

MOVING AFRICA, Project by Goethe Institute for Doual ?art, Douala?, Cameron.

 

 Awards

The Queen sonja Print Award, Oslo, Norway

The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize, Cape Town, South Africa

LAGUNA ART PRIZE, Business for Art, Venice, Italy

 

Selected Publications and Reviews

The Open Veins Of Postcolonial

The Essence of Water

Frieze 

 

Education 

2002 - 2005BA (Hons) Design Studies, London Metropolitan University, London, England.

2018 - 2020MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths University, London - England

 

 

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