Rodrigo de Toledo is a Brazilian-American contemporary artist,
designer, and visual communication professor. Inspired by ancient religious
icons, mythological archetypes, Jungian psychology, cartoons, and superheroes,
his work explores questions of identity and spirituality, as well as the
media's effect on personal memory and fantasy. In the past decade, he has
focused on the design of a personal mythology and its visual iconography - an
inner research that he describes as psycho-archaeology. Rodrigo employs a
surreal pop visual style in cross-media blends of digital imaging, graphic
novels, painting, interactivity, installation, and animation. Since 1990 his
whimsical imaginary world has been exhibited around the globe in museums,
galleries, festivals, and the media. Portfolio and exhibitions list: www.neurondiva.com
Rodrigo started his art education in 1984 at the Museum of Modern Art and
Parque Lage School of Visual Arts, in Rio de Janeiro. During that period he
also studied video art and music composition. He holds the following degrees:
Computer Science Associate (ORT Institute of Technology, Rio de Janeiro, 1987),
Bachelor of Industrial Design/ Graphic Design (Faculdade da Cidade, Rio de
Janeiro, 1992), and Master of Fine Arts, emphasis in Art and Technology (School
of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1995).
As a digital arts pioneer, in 1987 Rodrigo founded an animation studio in Rio,
where he worked until 1993. Rodrigo curated the first nation-wide Digital
Painting exhibition in Brazil in 1993. From 1995 to 1999, he worked as an Art
Director for NASA Ames Research Center's Educational Multimedia Research &
Development Group in Silicon Valley. There he created award-winning interactive
learning projects and technologies for space science education. Following NASA
he worked for tech-industry clients as an experience design consultant in San
Francisco. Then, in 2002, he joined Northern Arizona University as a professor
of Visual Communication, where his teaching has focused on motion design,
fictional world design, and graphic design.
Solo Exhibitions
2019 The Myth of the Incomplete Self –
Coconino Center for the Arts, Flagstaff, Arizona. Jan/Feb.
2018 Chronicles of Entanglement – Flagstaff
Modern and Contemporary Gallery, Arizona, April.
1993 Anatomia
Virtual 2 – IBM Gallery, Curitiba, Brazil.
1992 Anatomia Virtual 1 - Centro Cultural Candido Mendes, Rio de
Janeiro.
Collections
Daniel Langlois Archive,
Montreal, Canada
Centro Cultural Itaú, São
Paulo, Brazil
Rhyzome.org New Museum Artbase, New York
Private Collections
BOOKS
2018 Chronicles
of Entanglement – The broken mandala whispers – author, designer, and
illustrator, printed book, Ingram / Neurondiva.
2017 Chronicles
of Entanglement – The broken mandala whispers – author, designer, and
illustrator, eBook, Mint Associates, London, available on Amazon, Apple, and
Google stores.
Published
Catalogs
2019 The Myth of the Incomplete Self: A
Psycho-Archaeological Codex, from Solo exhibition, Flagstaff, USA.
2018 The Artistic Time #9 – art catalog - by
La Macina di San Cresci – Chianti, Italy.
2017 The
International Contemporary Art Guide 2017, by Arte Studio Ginestrelle, Assisi, Italy.
2016 The animation work Hollow Null was published in the SELF Festival Catalogue, the first special edition of 2.500 copies.
The volume is a comprehensive art catalogue of the festival SELF | Venice,
exhibited during the 2015 Venice Art Biennale, Italy, in collaboration with
International ArtExpo.
2008 Annual Guide to the Internet – The top 500
Websites in 2009. NY ARTS Annual Catalogue 2009.
1993 Anatomia Virtual, IBM/Coca Cola
sponsorship, Curitiba, Brazil.
Selected Group Exhibitions
and Screenings from 1995 to 2019
2018 MOCAF Grand Opening Group Exhibition,
Museum of Contemporary Art Flagstaff, June.
2017 Assisi International Contemporary Art
Exhibition 2017, Le Lodge Gallery, Assisi, Italy.
2015 Hollow
Null. Why Self – Adventures of Social Identities. Venice Art House
Gallery. Venice, Italy.
2014 Hollow Null. Venice Experimental Cinema
and Performance Art Festival. Palazzo Ca’ Zanardi, Venice, Italy.
2013 Hollow Null. BoderBody International Art
Festival, Galeria sztuki Współczesnej
MD_S, Wrocław, Poland.
2013 Hollow Null. BorderBody International
Art Festival. MECA
Mediterráneo Centro Artístico, Almeria,
Spain.
2013 Nanodramas - Cachets d'identité. BleuOrange, Revue the Literature Hypermediatique,
Montreal, Canada. .
2013 Nanodramas - Cachets d'identité. Digital Literature from Yesterday to
Tomorrow Exhibition, Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, France.
2013 Nanodramas - Cachets d'identité;. (French Interactive Version). Université
du Quebec au Montreal: NT2 (Laboratoire de recherches sur les œuvres
hypermédiatiques).
2013 Hollow Null. Hybrid Identities UK / Edinburgh International ArtExpo. The Old
Ambulance Depot Gallery, Edinburgh, UK.
2013 Hollow Null Video Installation. ResExtenza Contemporary Art ExhibitIon /
Lecce, Italy. Primo Piano Gallery.
2013 Hollow Null Video Installation. Viewpoints 2013, contemporary art exhibition
at the Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art. Newark, New Jersey: Studio
Montclair.
2012 Hollow Null - Animation. ID / Identities Istambul - International
ArtExpo. Kosa Cultural Center, Istambul, Turkey.
2012 Projekt 30. December International Contemporary Art
Exhibition. USA.
2012 6th Graphic Art Online
Annual, online and hosted in the U.K.
2012 2nd iBiennial of Contemporary
Art, Online, hosted in London.
2011 Media Art 3 Biennial Exhibition, online,
and Germany. Honorable Award.
2010 Group exhibition at
the Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Japan.
2008 1st
iBiennial of Contemporary Art at Artoteque.com.
2008 Feria Internacional de Arte Mar del Sur,
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2007 Flagstaff Fantasticals: group
exhibition in Northern Arizona University Art Museum, Flagstaff
2007 Energy Gallery Annual Salon 2007,
Lennox Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2007 Divishow Top 30 International
Competition, Exhibition, Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico
2006 Contained Art, Group Exhibition at
Galerie Seï-Un-Do, Zurich, Switzerland
2006 Freestyle 2-3-d: Energy Gallery Online
Exhibition, Toronto, Canada
2006 LACDA “Top 40” Competition Exhibition:
Los Angeles Digital Art Center, USA
2006 MIAD: Muestra Internacional de Arte Digital –
Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Rosa Galisteo, Santa Fe, Argentina
2006 FILE 05:
International Festival on Electronic Languages – Telemar Cultural Center – Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil
2005 FILE 05:
International Festival on Electronic Languages – SESI Cultural Center, São
Paulo, Brazil.
2005 “Ciutat De Vinaros”
International Prize on Digital Literature – Online Presence, Barcelona, Spain.
2004 Rhyzome.org New Museum Artbase. New
York
04-05 [R][R][F] Remembering, Repressing,
Forgetting – Interactive Group Exhibition, Exhibited:
·
24th Nuremberg International Short Films
Festival, Germany, 2005
·
Public_space_festival, Yerewan, Armenia, 2005
·
West Coast Numusic & Electronic Arts
Festival, Stavanger, Norway, 2005
·
Biennale of Electronic Art, Perth, Australia, 2005
·
24th of Nuremberg International Short Films
Festival, Germany, 2005
·
1st International Digital Art Exhibition -
Orilla’04, Museum of Contemporary Art & Foro, Santa Fé, Argentina, 2004
·
FILE – Electronic Language Festival, São Paulo, Brazil, 2004
·
404 Electronic Art festival, Juan Castagnino
Art Museum, Rosario, Argentina, 2004
·
National Museum of Contemporary Art,
Bucharesti, Romania, 2004
·
Version>04 Festival, Chicago, USA, 2004
·
Basics Festival, Salzburg, Austria, 2004
·
Electronic Art Meeting, Pescara, Italy, 2004
·
VI Salon y Coloquio International de Arte Digital, Havanna, Cuba, 2004
·
The International Festival of New Film &New
Media, Split, Croatia, 2004
00-01 Facial+: Multiple sonic performances in
San Francisco and electronic music recordings, San Francisco
1998 Ethereal
Sapiens: solo electronica music record, San Francisco.
95-98 Mars Virtual Exploration: Interactive
CD-ROM, creative director. Created for NASA, exhibited at multiple aerospace
education conferences.
1996 Nomads: Online Collective Exhibition at
Leonardo Journal Online
• Uneaten Future, Sacred Bytes:
interactive multimedia installation, shown at:
1998 Computer Art: Northern Arizona
University Art Museum, Flagstaff
1997 Banco Nacional Virtual Reality Show: Centro
Cultural Candido Mendes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1995 M.F.A. Show: School of the Art
Institute of Chicago gallery, Chicago
