José Damasceno was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1968, where he continues to live and work. The critic Gerardo Mosquera has described Damasceno's work as offering “a succession of adventures and surprises”. His versatile approach encompasses sculpture, drawing and collage, creating a rich interaction between these various methods which informs the scope of his installations. This diversity is often underpinned by Damasceno’s sharp and idiosyncratic sense of play, which is central to the experience of his work. His use of humour and eclecticism is also evocative of such wide-ranging influences as the Brazilian Neo-Concretists and the Surrealists.
In 2007, Damasceno represented Brazil at the Venice Biennale and, in 2008, was invited to create installations for various public spaces in Madrid’s Museo Reina Sofía, presented as the exhibition Coordenadas y Apariciones.
Plot is the artist’s first major solo show in the UK, following his 2010 exhibition Integrated Circuit, which took place at the Thomas Dane Gallery. International exhibitions of Damasceno’s work include those at the Centro Cultural São Paulo (2012), the Sydney Biennale (2007), the Project, New York (2007), the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (2005), the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2004), and at Culturgest, Porto (2003).