“In the last years, I have traveled the equivalent to two circumnavigations of the Earth. I dove in Mankind and the products of its cultures. Saw beauty and decay as I never thought to be possible.

All these voyages turn pale beyond the deepest of them all: the voyage towards the Self, the navigation through the seas of the unconscious and memory.
A travel that is infinitely harder; damnation and salvation amalgamated. There were times when I didn’t know when one ended and the other one began.

I have traveled hundreds of thousands of kilometers by land, capturing photographs, video, sound and interviews. The process of physical travel and inner dive resulted in a wider knowledge of my own psychic structures and how these relate to the universal that command the decisions and cultural constructions of Humanity.

Eastern philosophies and spiritual practices shifted my perception of the world and have become the extraction field for ideas that I use in my art. These ideas are made concrete through the sampling and remixing of my own archive.

My art works as a sublimation of my own personal experiences. I understand it as a form of self-understanding and comprehension of the world. The Other becomes a mirror for my self-knowledge, my practice has become simultaneously self-referential and universal.

I have recognized and accepted my condition of nomad. My nomadism is of an ideal or idealizing order. My poetics is born from the amalgamation of ancestral and contemporary: meditation technology collide with processors and algorithms.

I understand Art as a psychonautic science.

I am searching for a poetic theory of everything”.

Distante’s practice focuses on the triad spirit-Nature-technology; questioning the limits between reality and fiction while delving into the conflicts present in globalized society.

The artist’s methodology relies on A/V data-collection pilgrimages around the world.

These captures are used to build a massive archive that is sampled and remixed to create new narratives.

Through his hybrid works, he explores confluences of painting, performance and architecture.

Founder - Atelier Distante, studio for personal and collaborative production + research

Co-founder & Art Director - Housing NOW, Myanmar-based low-cost housing initiative

Director & Architect - Blue Temple, Architecture and research studio based in Myanmar

Founder - Infinisterra, Arts and Architecture studio and think-tank based in Lisbon

EDUCATION:

Meisterschüler Arts & Media - Generative and Computational Art - Universität der Künste Berlin under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Alberto de Campo

Master of Arts — Painting — Faculdade de Belas-Artes — Universidade de Lisboa, graduated with distinction, project thesis Dark Atlas: Nomadism between Reality and Fiction under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Manuel Botelho, Prof. Dr. João Seguro and Prof. Dr. Rui Serra

Master of Architecture — Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa, graduated with distinction, thesis Poetics in the Age of Information under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Fernando Hipólito

Piano Free Course, CODARTS Rotterdam Music Conservatory

Concept Art Course, ETIC, Lisbon, 2020/2021

MENTORSHIP:

Shine Lu, 8 months studio mentorship, Yangon, 2018

SELECTED SHOWS:

Plano de Fuga (Escape Plan), Dedicated, Lisbon, Portugal, 2024 - on view

The Snake Charmer, Factory Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal, 2023

On Infinity, TAF The Art Foundation, Athens, Greece, 2022

Passagens, Cosmos, Lisbon, Portugal. 2022

Process, Institut Français de Birmanie, Yangon, Myanmar, 2022

In Utero, Útero - Casa d'Arte, Lisbon, Portugal, 2021

Dark Atlas, Mute Art Project, Lisbon, Portugal, 2019

MA Painting thesis exhibition, FBAUL, Lisbon, Portugal, 2019

Infinisterra, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal, 2015

Infinisterra, Lx Factory, Lisbon, Portugal, 2013

Infinisterra, Universidade Lusíada Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 2013

COLLECTIVE:

Snakes And Ladders, Kunsthaus KuLe, Berlin, Germany, 2024 - upcoming

An Assembly: Performing Contemporary, UdK Medienhaus, Berlin, Germany, 2024

Video Art Screening, Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal, 2024

24 24: A Day on Earth, Wasserschloss Reelkirchen, Blomberg, Germany, 2024

Exploring Sound Fields: Imaginary Workspace, Bauhaus Reuse, Berlin, Germany, 2024

Waking Up in A World, Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal, 2022

IGNIÇÃO, Rastilho Cultural, Lisbon, Portugal, 2021

Rare Effect vol2 - NFT Festival, Arroz Estúdios, Lisbon, Portugal, 2021

Design Trust: Critically Homemade, House Studio - Soho House HK, Hong Kong, 2020

The Parasol Project, River Gallery, Yangon, Myanmar, 2019

30 Years of Fundação Oriente’s Scolarships, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal, 2018

GAB-A / Galerias Abertas das Belas-Artes 11ª Edição, FBAUL, Lisbon, Portugal, 2017

VI Bienal Culturas Lusófonas, Centro de Exposições de Odivelas, Portugal, 2017

Lusíada 30 Anos Arquitectura, Museu dos Coches, Lisbon, Portugal, 2016

BOOM Festival 2016, Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal, 2016

A Paiã em Arte, Centro de Exposições de Odivelas, Portugal, 2016

Festival AURA, Sintra, Portugal, 2015

De Onde para Onde, ISEG, Lisbon, Portugal, 2015

MINDtheGAP, The Storefront for Art & Architecture, New York, USA, 2013

ARTSCIST, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, 2010

ENTRE PÓLOS, Lisbon, Portugal, 2010

PERFORMANCES:

Snakes And Ladders, Kunsthaus KuLe, Berlin, Germany - upcoming, 8 November 2024

Exposure, Bauhaus Reuse, Berlin, Germany, 2024

Searching For Lost Time, Kunsthalle Potsdamer Straße, Berlin, Germany, 2024

Skene, Act II (w/ Error-43 & Sara Paternesi), Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal, 2023

Skene (w/ Error-43 & Sara Paternesi), Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal, 2022

Akasha (w/ F. Pimpão), Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal, 202

Brinks of Perception (w/ Error-43), Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal, 202

In Utero (w/ Error-43), Útero - Casa d'Arte, Lisbon, Portugal, 202

Dark Atlas (w/ F. Pimpão), Mute Art Project, Lisbon, Portugal, 2019

CURATORIAL WORK:

Dedicated Hip-Hop Museum, Dedicated, Lisbon, Portugal, 2023

Jump of Faith, DIRTYCOP, Rastilho Cultural, Lisbon, Portugal, 2021

IGNIÇÃO II, Rastilho Cultural, Lisbon, Portugal, 2021

IGNIÇÃO, Rastilho Cultural, Lisbon, Portugal, 2021

Inner World, João Garcia Miguel, Praça do Príncipe Real 19, Lisbon, Portugal, 2017

AWARDS / GRANTS:

MIT Sandbox, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Housing NOW, 2023

3rd Prize/Honorable Mention, Architecture Sans Frontières International Award, Housing NOW, 2023

Changemakers Award, Factory Berlin, Housing NOW, 2023

A+ Awards Best X-Small Firm, Architizer, Blue Temple, 2023

International Design Award IDA winner, Bronze - print-Books, Atlas Obscuro/Dark Atlas, design: Tomás Gouveia 2022

MIT Solve, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Housing NOW, 2022

Portuguese Emerging Art 2020, Emerge + Fundação PLMJ, 2020

Hong-Kong Design Trust Feature Grant 2020: Bamboo Learnings From Yangon: Expanding Cantonese Bamboo Craftsmanship’s Social Impact and Design Solutions Space, Yangon, Myanmar, Blue Temple 2020

Hong-Kong Design Trust Seed Grant 2018: Gyo Byu Pipeline Initiative, Yangon, Myanmar, Blue Temple 2018

Boom Festival 2016 Student Competition, Stasis, Rethorica Studio 2016

Fundação Oriente Research Scholarship — Infinisterra — Architecture and Culture in Contemporary Asia, 2015

Nominated for Mies van der Rohe European Awards - Arkadia Apartments, IND 2014

Project of the Year - Turkish Architecture Association, Koç Swimming Pool, IND 2012

Leonardo da Vinci scholarship, 2012

1st Prize ITU Cyprus Competition, IND 2011

Honorable Mention, Troy Archeological Site Museum, Troy, Turkey, IND 2011

3rd Prize ARTSCIST International student competition, The Cell, 2010

ENTRE PÓLOS prize - Magnética magazine lllustration competition, 2010

BIBLIOGRAPHY / PRESS:

Três Pancadas com Eko, Sam the Kid, TV Chelas, video podcast, 2023

ALGORISTS, L'ordine del caos, Matteo Bonaldo, 85 pages, color, italian, BA thesis, Istituto d’Arte Applicata e Design IAAD Bologna, 2023

Dedicated Hip-Hop Museum, NIT, CNN Portugal, June 2022

Portal, 44 pages, black & white, 12 numbered copies, Cosmos 2022

Waking Up in a World, Peggy Schoenegge, Artemis Gallery 2022

Portuguese Emerging Art Green Edition, 176 pages, color, Emerge 2020

MA Painting 2016 - 2018, 80 pages, color, FBAUL 2020

Distante - Atlas Obscuro/Dark Atlas, 72 pages, color, author’s edition, portuguese/english, 200 numbered copies, 2020

Dark Atlas: Nomadism between Reality and Fiction, 177 pages, color, MA Painting dissertation, FBAUL 2019

Inner World, Whitelies Magazine, December 2016

Hulda Festival - A Journey Into Art and Science, Yildirim Koman, Piri Can, Arici, 160 pages, color, Koman Foundation, 2015

Infinisterra — Architecture and Culture in Contemporary Asia, 118 pages, color, author’s edition, portuguese/english, 50 numbered copies, 2015

Infinisterra — VISÃO magazine, April 2015

Poetics in the Age of Information, 297 pages, color, M.Arch dissertation, ULusíada 2011

@atelier.distante