Cris Bierrenbach
Biography
Cris Bierrenbach, born in São Paulo in 1964.
A self-taught Brazilian photographer and visual artist began her career as a photojournalist for the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo in 1989. She has since worked as a photographer, photo editor, or illustrator for the majority of Brazil’s mainstream print media.
Aside from photojournalism, Bierrenbach creates artistic work that includes video, installation, performance, and research on 19th-century photographic processes, with an focus on the production of daguerreotypes, for which she was awarded the Porto Seguro Photography Prize in 2004.
Other prizes include:
Candango Award for Best Art Direction in a feature film at the 41st Brasília Film Festival for “FilmeFobia” (2008)
Centro Cultural São Paulo Acquisition Award (2009)
Funarte Contemporary Art Prize (2010)
Funarte Marc Ferrez Photography Prize (2010)
Joaquim Nabuco Foundation Award (2011)
Among the exhibitions she participated in are:
Brazilian Diversity, Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum, Chengdu, China (2020)
Taipei International Photo Festival, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei, Taiwan (2018)
Verbo (International Performance Festival), Vermelho Gallery, São Paulo (2018)
Ways of Seeing Brazil: Itaú Cultural 30 Years, Oca Ibirapuera, São Paulo (2017)
En/quête d’identité, Abbaye de Jumièges, Seine-Maritime, France (2016)
140 characters, Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo, São Paulo (2014)
Circuits Crossed: The Centre Pompidou meets MAM, São Paulo (2013)
5èmeARTE Video Night, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2013)
Prague Quadrennial 2011: Space and Scenic Design, Palacio Veletrzni, Prague, Czech Republic (2011)
IV Festival Internacional de Videoarte de Camaguey, Cuba (2011)
Radiovisual, Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre (2009)
Creative Art Session Brazil Japan, Kawasaki City Museum, Japão (2008)
Desidentidad, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Espanha (2006)
Geração da Virada – 10 Anos + 1, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo (2006), among others.
Her work has been shown in Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Chile, China, Cuba, Spain, United States, France, Netherlands, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, and Uruguay.
She has works in the collections of Maison Européenne de la Photographie and Bibliotèque Nationale de France (Paris), Museum of Art of São Paulo (MASP), Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (MAM), Museum of Contemporary Art of São Paulo (MAC), Aloisio Magalhães Museum of Modern Art of Recife (MAMAM), Banco Itaú Collection, JP Morgan Bank Collection among others.
In 2005, she was invited by publisher Cosac Naify to contribute to the Foto-Portátil collection by publishing a book featuring her work. In 2021, she released Sem Nome as part of the Quarantine Books 2 project.
Other books featuring her work are:
Alegoria – Arte Brasileira – Séc XX, Lemos Editorial (2002)
Espejos que Dejan Ver, Mujeres en Las Artes Visuales Latinoamericanas. Ed. Isis International, Chile (2002)
Fotografia no Brasil – Um Olhar das Origens ao Contemporâneo . FUNARTE (2005)
Fotografia na Arte Brasileira Séc. XXI. Editora Cobogó (2013)
Brazil: A Celebration of Contemporary Brazilian Culture, Phaidon Press Limited, Londres (2014)
Fotógrafas brasileiras – Imagem Substantiva. Editora Grifo (2021)
Since 2020, she has been living and working in Lisbon.
