While still in highschool, Rafael began to follow in the wake of artists who, particularly since the seventies, have questioned the formalism of established languages, renewed an awareness of art’s political role (in a broad sense), and had their actions pervade the whole social space.

-Rafael: "It’s far too academic for me to try to speak about or for the world. That’s too much noun and not enough verb." As an artist, instead, he cultivates the ability to sculpt and curate the world’s elusive complexities into focus… within arm’s reach. In this sort of existential approach, feelings are the only facts. Consequently, Rafael's work taps into these "facts" through a seemingly ready-made complex of personal/collective memories and mythologies, the residues of which are fossilized into materials and practices. While language is often a point of departure in his work, metaphors and subjective symbolism seem to take a back-seat to that elusive yet very real je ne sais quoi that shrouds viewers into moments of inspiring emotions, thoughts and behaviors. It's tempting to speak about Rafael's body of work in terms of Arte Povera, Minimalism, Street Art, Brasilian Concretism and/or 70's performance art, however, their experience renders explanations, reproductions and even this website, mischeviously superfluous.

Through the use of various mediums, Rafael Abreu-Canedo explore issues of language, social behavior, power relations, and identity, with focus on systems, the body, and space. He has exhibited and taught throughout the US, having his first exhibition in 2001 at the age of 16. Since then, Rafael has worked with organizations such as Sprout Fund, No More Prisons, Oakland Unified School District, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, New York Department of Education, Root Division, the New New Yorkers Program at the Queens Museum of Art, and Franklin Furnace, developing a commitment to communication through the arts; changing the future by working for a better today.

Languages:English, Portuguese, Spanish, 2+ years of Japanese.

Education:San Francisco Art Institute, BFA New Genres, 2008

Awards and Honors:

2009-Winner of a Franklin Furnace Fund Grant: Franklin Furnace

2008-Winner of a Sprout Fund Seed Award: Sprout Fund

2008-Winner of the Outstanding New Genres Student Honor: San Francisco Art Institute

2007-Winner of a 2007 SFAI Project Grant: San Francisco Art Institute

2003-Winner of the 2003 San Francisco Art Institute Merit Scolarship: San Francisco Art Institute

2002-Winner of the 2002 Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Award: Pgh Center for the Arts

2001-Winner of the All City Arts Showcase: Manchester Craftsman Guild

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2011-Fault Line, The Urban Tree Forge (Pittsburgh, PA)

2010-Art Institute of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA)

2009-Conflux Festival 2009 (New York, NY)

2009-Synthetic Zero Art Space (Bronx, NY)

2008-HotHouse 2008, Sprout Organization (Pittsburgh, PA)

2008-Spring Show 2008, Diego Rivera Gallery (San Francisco, CA)

2008-Sound Device, Root Division (San Francisco, CA)

2007-One Day It Will All Make Sense, Edge Zones Gallery (Miami, FL)

2007-Emission Theory, La Vie Gallery (Pittsburgh, PA)

2006-Eye Plugs, Little Roxy Theater (San Francisco, CA)

2005-Media Experiment, The RX Gallery (San Francisco, CA)

2005-Urban Revolution (St. Niklaas, Belgium)

2003-Jadite Gallery (New York, NY)

2002-Young Artists Show, GalleriE Chiz (Pittsburgh, PA)

2001-All City Arts Showcase, Manchester Craftsman Guild (Pittsburgh, PA)

Teaching Experience:

2010/2011-Pittsbugh Public Schools SDA, Pittsburgh, PA

Head Instructor. Sound and Body (6th-8th graders)

2008/2009-PS 212, Bronx, NY

Head Instructor. Performing Culture: dance to communicate. (6th-8th graders)

2007-Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY

Head Instructor. Body Language: performance and photography. (All Ages)

2007-San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA

Teacher's Assistant. Design + Technology. (College Level)

2005/2007-Calvin Simmons Middle School, Oakland, CA

Head Instructor. Performing Culture: dance to communicate. (6th-8th graders)

2001/2003-Kingsley Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Head Instructor. Dance. (All Ages)