Miguel Afa

Miguel Afa lives and works in Rio de Janeiro. He began his career in graffiti in 2001, of Complexo do Alemão, and attended classes at UFRJ’s School of Fine Arts. Miguel Afa’s work emerges from the exercise of an affective and deeply honest gaze upon the world and himself. The artist creates paintings that revisit or give rise to affective memories, investigating the relationships between geography, environment, the body, and affection, intertwining physical and emotional dimensions in relationships and the experience of time.

Across a range of settings and elements—silent landscapes, backyards, trees, fabrics, and clotheslines—Afa creates images that seem suspended between memory and dream. Black bodies inhabit these scenes with tenderness and permanence, while also claiming a political space: who is allowed to experience affection? Which bodies can be seen through tenderness, contemplation, and care?

Guided by an honest relationship with the act of making art, the artist understands painting as an open field, capable of extending beyond the creator’s initial intentions. His works do not resolve themselves into a single theme or narrative; rather, they carry multiple layers of affection, memory, and perception. Like human experience itself, these paintings remain in motion, open to unfolding and to the imagination.

In 2026, Miguel Afa takes part in the Rhinoceros Rome residency in Rome, Italy, and presents the solo exhibition Il tempo che vive in me (O tempo que vive em mim). He also participates in the group exhibitions “Home, A Fire”, at the Cheng lan Foundation, em Hong Kong, “Céu Estrelado”, at Sesc Nova Iguaçu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, “Constelações – 40 anos do Paço Imperial” at Paço Imperial, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and “Casa Fluminense” at Casa Brasil, also in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In 2025, one of the artist’s works was acquired and donated to the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo through the ArtRio Acquisition Program. In the same year, he presented the solo exhibition “O vento continua, todavia”, at Paço Imperial in Rio de Janeiro, and “Um céu para caber”, at A Gentil Carioca, São Paulo.

In 2024, he took part in the group shows “Dos Brasis”, at Sesc Quitandinha, Petrópolis (itinerancy of the show also presented at Sesc Belenzinho, São Paulo) and “O que te faz olhar para o céu?”, at Centro Cultural Correios Rio de Janeiro. In the same year, he held the solo show “Entra Pra Dentro”, at the A Gentil Carioca gallery. In 2023, he held the solo show “Em Construção” and took part in the group show “Da Avenida à Harmonia”, both at the Instituto Inclusartiz in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

His works are part of important collections, including the Pinacoteca de São Paulo (Brazil), the Cheng Lan Foundation (Hong Kong) and the Jorge M. Pérez Collection (USA).

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