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Xertu moved to the Netherlands in 2004. After he graduated from the Rietveld Academy, he developed his painterly visual language working within the performing arts, where he worked both as a designer and created works that experimented with the medium of theater and dance. His scenic artworks have been shown in the Dutch pavilion of the Venice Biënnale and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. In his pictorial work, Xertu combines the analogue and the digital; photographing models, painting them, using Photoshop to decide the composition of the surrounding nature, and meticulously gluing plants directly onto the canvas to create large scale paintings with stark compositions. Drawing from mythological references, he explores themes of time and ageing, incorporating the decay of real plants as elements of transformation, which can take several years to happen. He was nominated for the Royal Award for Modern Painting 2019 and was awarded the Audience Prize.

Exhibitions
​2022 –(upcoming) Fragments Gallery New York City, USA - Group show
2022 –BRUTUS Rotterdam, NL - Group show
2022 – Galerie Du Monde Hong Kong, HK - Group show
2021 – MOYA Museum of Young Art Oosterhout, NL - Group show
2021 – Art Rotterdam, NL - Duo presentation
2020 – Tropicana / Pottage Foundation Rotterdam, NL - Group show
2020​ – TORCH Gallery Amsterdam, NL - Solo show
2019 – Royal Palace Amsterdam, NL - Group show 
2019 – WTC Rotterdam Gallery, NL - Group show 
2018 – Gloss Gallery Tel Aviv, IL - Solo show

Inquiries and representation by  torchgallery.com

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