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Miguel Rio Branco    (Brazilian, 1946)

 Miguel Rio Branco - Cortiço (Photographs) h: 29.5 x w: 45.2 in / h: 74.9 x w: 114.8 cm
Miguel Rio Branco
Cortiço 1979
 
 Miguel Rio Branco - Grandona in the Bed (Photographs) h: 23.5 x w: 35.5 in / h: 59.7 x w: 90.2 cm
Miguel Rio Branco
Grandona in the Bed 1979
 
 Miguel Rio Branco - Green Man (Photographs) h: 23.5 x w: 35.5 in / h: 59.7 x w: 90.2 cm
Miguel Rio Branco
Green Man 1979
 
 Miguel Rio Branco - Homage to Goeldi (Photographs) h: 45.2 x w: 68 in / h: 114.8 x w: 172.7 cm
Miguel Rio Branco
Homage to Goeldi 2002-2004
 
 Miguel Rio Branco - Leninha Dancing with Red Curtain (Photographs) h: 23.5 x w: 35.5 in / h: 59.7 x w: 90.2 cm
Miguel Rio Branco
Leninha Dancing with Red Curtain 1979
 
 Miguel Rio Branco - Wax, Wood and Flesh (Photographs)
Miguel Rio Branco
Wax, Wood and Flesh 1992
 

Biography
1946 - 1964 Miguel da Silva Paranhos do Rio Branco was born in 1946 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. He is a painter, a photographer, a cinematographer, a film director and a creator of multi-media productions. Today he lives and works in Rio de Janeiro. The brazilian visual artist has worked extensively throughout the Americas and Europe since the begining of his professional career in 1964 with a painting exhibition in Bern, Switzerland.
1966 In 1966 he studied at the New York Institute of Photography and 1968 at the Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial in Rio de Janeiro. Rio Branco started exhibiting paintings in 1964, photographs and films in 1972. He worked as a photographer and directed exprimental films in New York from 1970-72. He was the director of many short and feature movies for the next nine years. In addition pursuing his personal photography, Rio Branco worked as a photodocumentarist. Within a short time, he was acknowledged as one of the top photojournalists working with color. He has been a correspondent for Magnum Photos since 1980. His work is regulary published throughout the world.
1980 Throughout the 1980’s Miguel Rio Branco received international acclaim for his photographic and film work in the form of awards, publications and exhibitions, such as the Great Prize of the First Triennale of Photography of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo, Brazil, and the 1982 Kodak de la Critique Photographique Award, France, which he shared with two other photographers. His photographic works have been seen in numerous one-man and group exhibitions over the last 20 years including at the Centre George Pompidou, Paris; São Paulo Biennal, 1983; at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1989; the Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, 1988; Burden Gallery, Aperture Foundation, New York, 1986; Magnum Gallery, Paris, 1985; MASP, São Paulo; Fotogaleria FUNARTE, Rio de Janeiro, 1988; Kunstverein Frankfurt, in Prospect 1996; Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, 1996.
1981 Miguel Rio Branco has been photography director and cameraman for 14 short movies and 8 feature films. His most recent camerawork can been seen in the 1988 film, “Uma avenida chamada Brasil” by Otavio Bezerra. He received the prize of best direction of photography for “Memória Viva” by Otavio Bezerra and “Abolição” by Zozimo Bulbul at the 1988 Film Festival of Brazil. He has also directed and photographed 7 experimental films and 2 videos, including the 1981 award-winning film “Nada levarei qundo morrer aqueles que mim deve cobrerei no inferno” (When I die, I won’t take anything with me those who owe me something will pay in the hell), which won the Best Photography Prize at the 1981 Brazilia Film Festival and The Special Prize of the Jury as well as The International Critics Award at the 11th International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Lille, France, 1982.
1985 Rio Branco’s photographs as editorial work have been published in several magazines such as Stern, National Geographic, Geo, Aperture, Photo Magazine, Europeo, Paseante. Dulce Sudor Amargo, a book of Rio Branco’s photographs made in Bahia, Brazil, was published in 1985 by the Fondo de Cultura Economica, Mexico. Nakta, with a poem by Louis Calaferte was published in 1996 by Fundação Cultural de Curitiba.
The works of Rio Branco are represented in public and private collections throughout the Americas and Europe, incliding the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro; the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo; the Museum of Art of São Paulo; the George Pompidou Center, Paris; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Museum of Photographic Arts of San Diego; The Metropolitan Museum of New York.

Rio Branco is represented in São Paulo by Camargo-Vilaça Gallery, and New York by D’Amelio Terras Gallery.

Awards and Grants:
1980 - Great Prize of the 1st Photography Triennale of the Museum of Modern Art São Paolo, Brazil
Best Photography, Brazil Film Festival for the movie “Nada levarei qundo morrer aqueles que mim deve cobrerei no inferno”
1982 - Special Jury Prize and The International Critics Award, XI Festival International du Film de Court Métrage et du Film Documentaire, Lille, France (XI International and Short Film Festival) for “Nada Levarei qundo morrer aqueles que mim deve cobrerei no inferno”
1982 - Prix Kodak de la Critique Photographique, Paris (shared with two others photographers)
1986 - Video “Apaga-te Sésamo” won the following: Special proze of the jury, International Short Film Festival, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Best Video and Film Direction, Film and Video Festival of Maranhão, Brazil.
1988 - Best direction of photography of feature film for his work in “Memória Viva” by Otavio Bezerra and “Abolição” by Zozimo Bulbul at the Brazilia Film Festival
1993 - Rockfeller Foundation
1994 - VITAE grant for the Santa Rosa series
1995 - Prêmio FUNARTE de Fotografia, best photo essay
1997 - Prix du Livre Photo, Arles, France(ex aequo)

Exhibitions
2008 Out of Nowhere, Groningen Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands (solo)
2007 I WON’T TAKE ANYTHING WITH ME WHEN I DIE, THOSE WHO OWE ME SOMETHING WILL PAY ME IN HELL., Christopher Grimes Gallery (solo)
2006 Floating Darkness, Chochouin Buddhist Temple Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (solo)
2004 Algunas Habaneras, otras no…, Galeria Oliva Arauna, Madrid, Espana
Homenagem a Goeldi, Galeria Christopher Grimes, USA, CA
Galeria Millan Antonio, Brasil, São Paulo
Beauty, the Beast, Haggerty Museum of Art, USA
2003 Door into Darkness, Aperture’s Burden Gallery, New York
Nakta, FNAC, Paris – Montparnasse
Foto Arte Brasília, Espaço Cultural Contemporaneo Venancio, Brasília – Brasil
Bzzzz, Silvia Cintra Galeria de Arte, Rio de Janeiro
Beauty, the Beast, The Art Institute of Boston, Boston
Out of Nowhere – Fotoforum, Germany
2002 Teoria da Cor, Galeria André Millan, São Paulo
Fast Flash Backs, Galerie 1900-2000, Paris
Objetos Diretos, Galeria Paulo Fernandes, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
2001 Galeria Oliva Arauna, Madrid
Between the eyes the desert, D'Amelio Terras, New York
Miguel Rio Branco, Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Veneza
Entre los ojos, Centro Cultural de la Villa, Madrid
Gritos Surdos, Centro Portugues de Fotografia, Porto, Portugal
Miguel Rio Branco, FNAC Barra, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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