2 min read · 18 Apr 2023
Maxwell Alexandre, sem título [untitled] (2021), from “Pardo é Papel: New Power”, The Shed. Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist and A Gentil Carioca
Alexandre's HENI Score increased 125% recently. The metric is based on an artist's media coverage and market demand. Paintings by the artist, who is in his early 30s, are untested at auction but that seems only a matter of time. He is represented by the Brazilian gallery A Gentil Carioca. To stay up to date with news about Maxwell Alexandre, see the artist’s HENI Dashboard.
Alexandre is a rising star in Brazil and abroad. In 2020, he was among Deutsche Bank’s Artist of the Year. He has had a solo show at the prestigious Palais de Tokyo, in Paris, and made his London debut at David Zwirner’s gallery.
In 2023, he made his US debut with a solo show at The Shed, in New York’s Hudson Yards, with an installation of monumental drawings celebrating black identities and resilience. The New York Times wrote: “With the agility and velocity of the professional in-line skater he once was, the Brazilian painter Maxwell Alexandre, 32, has soared rapidly in the art world.”
Alexandre made headlines after he demanded the removal of his work from Inhotim, the internationally famous open-air museum in Brazil, citing "embarrassment" over its inclusion in an exhibition about the Black experience.
The artist opened his own gallery in Rio de Janeiro. The inaugural show in the Maxwell Alexandre Pavilion featured his signature portraits of black people painted in large dimensions on brown paper, a comment on the historic exclusion of people of color from many art spaces.
Alexandre is also a member of the Underdog Collection, a collaborative collective focused on promoting emerging artists and the democratization of the art world.