Eder Santos

1960, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Lives and works in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Eder Santos’s research concerns the hybridism inherent to the audiovisual language. His videos provide true sensorial experiences by coupling views of paintings together with a soundtrack, combining distortions of colors and sounds. Exploring themes proper to everyday life in the state of Minas Gerais, Eder Santos’s investigation evinces an understanding of the important role played by the representativity of the technological media in contemporary culture, and their potentials for use as universal communication tools.

Eder Santos studied visual arts at the Escola de Belas Artes of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, but then chose to complete his training by attending the visual programming course at the Fundação Mineira de Arte Aleijadinho (FUMA, 1984). He has held solo shows at important institutions such as Memorial Minas Gerais Vale (2023, Belo Horizonte, Brazil), Paço Imperial (2017, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Sesc Pompeia (2013, São Paulo), MAM-Salvador (2010), the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (2010, Rio de Janeiro), Masp (2010), the Museu de Arte da Pampulha (2007, Belo Horizonte), the University of Virginia Art Museum (2006, USA), and the Museo de Arte Moderna of Buenos Aires (2000, Argentina). He has participated in group shows at venues that most notably include Tate Modern (2017, London, England), the Museu da Imagem e do Som (2014, São Paulo), the Bienal de Curitiba (2013, Paraná), the Liverpool Biennial (2021, England), Itaú Cultural (2007, São Paulo), the Bienal de La Havana (2006, Cuba), MAC-USP (2002, Brazil), the Museo de Arte de Buenos Aires (2000, Argentina), the 23rd Bienal de São Paulo (1996), and MoMA (1993, New York, USA). Eder Santos has taken part in various cinema and video festivals, including most of the editions of the Festival Sesc_Videobrasil (São Paulo), where he has won various prizes, the Videoarte Festival (Locarno, Switzerland), the Tokyo Video Festival (Japan), the Manifestation Internacional Video et Art Electronique (Montreal, Canada), and the New York Video Festival (USA). He also received a grant from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development (2003, Holland), a special mention at the Festival et Forum International des Nouvelles Images(1996, Locarno, Switzerland), and the prize for best video at the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano (1995, Havana, Cuba) and at the V Festival Internacional de Video Franco-Latino-Americano (1995, Bogotá, Colombia), among many other awards. His works figure in the collections of important institutions that include the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, France), the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (USA), MoMA-NY (USA), and MAM-SP/RJ.