TALES FREY (Catanduva-São Paulo, Brazil, 1982). Even though Tales Frey can hastily be called a performer, the title, in fact, does not account for the many languages that cross his transdisciplinary investigations. Driven primarily by drawing and the body, the artist built a path that accumulates experiences from the scenic universe, such as acting, costume design, dramaturgy, scenography and theatrical direction, in addition to dance and choreography, and visual art languages, such as sculpture, objects, photography and video art. His practice is based on studies of art criticism, gender theories, performativity and others, in an aesthetic radicalism supported by a deep desire for artistic experimentalism and a vast contemporary cultural repertoire. Committed to propositions that challenge what he calls “compulsory cisheteronormativity”, his thinking and art practice are also activist.
He is concluding his postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Humanistic Studies at the University of Minho in Portugal, where he is a Professor and Assistant Researcher for the exercise of scientific research activities in the scientific area of Arts or Aesthetics, within the scope of the Agreement Programme celebrated between the Foundation for Science and Technology and University of Minho. He studied PhD in Theater and Performative Studies at the University of Coimbra, a Master’s in Art Theory and Criticism and a Specialization in Contemporary Artistic Practices at FBAUP and a BA degree in Theatre Staging at UFRJ.
He presented authorial creations at The Kitchen, Judson Memorial Church and Satellite Art Show in New York, Musée des Abattoirs in Toulouse in France, Athens Museum Of Queer Arts (AMOQA) in Athens, MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Museum of the Republic of Rio de Janeiro, Centro Municipal de Arte Helio Oiticica, SESC SP, MIS São Paulo, BienalSur in Buenos Aires, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Center in Auckland, New Zealand, Labirynt Gallery in Poland, Defibrillator Gallery in Chicago, Galleria Moitre in Turin, Kuala Lumpur 7th Triennial – Barricade in Malaysia, The Biennial 6th Bangkok Experimental Film Festival in Thailand, among others.
His works are in public and private collections, including: Serralves Contemporary Art Museum and Bienal de Cerveira Museum in Portugal, Akureyri Art Museum in Iceland, MUNTREF in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pinacoteca João Nasser, Museum of Contemporary Art in Niterói, Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Museum of Contemporary Art from the University of São Paulo.
He received the Acquisition Award at the XIX Cerveira International Art Biennial 2017, Honorable Mention at the 17th National Salon of Contemporary Art in Guarulhos in 2021, Honorable Mention at the II Gaia International Art Biennial 2017, Best Costume Designer at Aldeia FIT 2006.
He has frequently presented works at international art fairs, including ARCOlisboa in Portugal, SP-Arte and ArtRio in Brazil, ARTAnkara Contemporary Art Fair in Turkey, Paratissima Art Fair in Italy, SUPERMARKET – Stockholm Independent Art Fair in Sweden, among others.