Brasília, Brazil, 1982 \ Lives and works in Goiânia
Dalton Paula’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, installation, photo performance, and video performance. Examining the representation of Black bodies in the African diaspora from colonial history to the present, his art engages with themes of symbolic healing, intricately weaving together historical, social, economic, and psychological dimensions. Paula reimagines the past through a speculative lens, crafting narratives that honour historically marginalised or erased figures, connecting past and present to offer future generations enduring images and reimagined narratives. His practice is profoundly shaped by terreiros (sacred Afro-Brazilian religious spaces), quilombos (communities founded by escaped enslaved people), and traditional Afro-Brazilian celebrations, grounding his exploration of culture, memory, and ancestral heritage.
In 2021, Paula founded and since then maintained Sertão Negro Studio and School of Arts. Founded as a creative school that intersects Afro-Brazilian cultural traditions and contemporary art practices. It operates as a sanctuary for the Black community, environmental consciousness, and art. It is set within a facility designed with bioconstruction principles, including artist chalets for residency open for national and international residents, centring Afro-Brazilian and African diasporic knowledge. Sertão Negro is now a community formed by more than 30 people. By honouring traditional knowledge and the daily lives of black spatiality, Sertão Negro positions itself as a cultural epicentre for preserving and expanding heritage, identity, and artistic expression for future generations.
In 2024, Paula was invited to be part of Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, 60th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia and won the Chanel Next Prize, sequenced by the Soros Arts Fellowship Awards, given by the Open Society Foundation in 2023. In 2022, he presented Retratos Brasileiros at Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand – MASP and Rota do Algodão at Pinacoteca de São Paulo.
He was part of important group shows, such as Brasil futuro: As formas da democracia, Museu Nacional da República (2023); 8th Biennial of Painting: The ‘t’ is Silent, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens (2022); Enciclopédia Negra, Pinacoteca de São Paulo (2021); 36° Panorama da Arte Brasileira: Sertão, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo – MAM SP (2019); Songs for Sabotage, 4th edition of the NewMuseum Triennial, NewMuseum (2018); O Triângulo Atlântico, 11ª Bienal do Mercosul (2018); Incerteza viva, 32ª Bienal de São Paulo (2016), among others.
His work is part of important collections, such as the Museum of Modern Art – MoMA, USA; Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand – MASP, Brazil; Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Brazil; Art Institute of Chicago, USA; Institute of Contemporary Art – ICA Miami, USA; among others.
