Iluá Hauck da Silva
Born in Campinas, Brazil
Lives and works in London
The crux of my practice is to visually investigate the human condition and its conundrums: sculpted body parts and glass internal organs function as signifiers for different psychological, emotional, and physical afflictions.
Human anatomy, Greek mythology, Christian narratives and iconography, the Old Masters, and Classical ideals and sculpture continuously inform my visual and conceptual vocabularies. Reconsidering, and often subverting, elements from these sources, my aim is to create work that speaks of human experience.
I explore the vastly complex notion of beauty - both aesthetically and conceptually - by combining a wealth of materials and techniques. A strong sense of the relationship between what can potentially be described as beautiful and the brutality of existence is thus deeply infused in my work.
Dadaesque interventions on Old Masters and readymades articulate thoughts on current affairs, social values, tensions, and injustice, and also consider the construction of history and traditions.
Cohesion between form and idea is consciously pursued or challenged and charges my work with affecting connotations: as multiple layers of meaning unfold, the contingency of visual dialogues between crafted matter, abstract concepts, and ontological preoccupations crystallises.©
Education
2023 - PhD student, Doctorate in Fine Art University Of East London
2018 - 2020 MA Christianity and the Arts King's College London in association with the National Gallery, London
1998 - 2002 BA(Hons) Art History Goldsmiths, University of London
Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2023|24 Viscerae, Century Members Club, London
2021 Hekowé Ka’á (The Heart of the Rainforest), with Rigulio Graak, Pertunmaan Kunnantalo, Finland
2019|20 Pathos Ocularis - The Beautiful and The Curious, British Optical Association Museum, London
2017 Display of Decadence and Duchampian Dystopias series, Upstairs at L'Escargot Members Club, London
2016 Minotaurs of the Mind - The Second Coil, Brompton Cemetery Chapel, London
2016 Special display of Flagellation I&II and Cilice, Augustijnenklooster, Ghent, Belgium
2012 Minotaurs of the Mind, National Trust Sutton House, London
2012 Special solo display of Veins of Vanity II in the Chapel of the National Trust Sutton House, London
2011 Punhados de Possibilidades, Museu Padre Lima, Itatiba, Brazil
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Sudden Cardiac Art, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
2024 Sudden Cardiac Art, Kingshill House, Dursley
2023 Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition, York Art Gallery, York
2021 Love is Not an Ideology, Zebra One Gallery, London
2021 Dante 700th London, Dante Society London, London
2021 Creation in Isolation - Navigating Absurdity in Times of Limitation, Pärnu Art Week, Pärnu, Estonia
2021 RWA 168th Annual Open Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2020 Copy That #3, Lockdown Gallery, London (online show)
2019 The Death of Art, Vout-O-Reenee's Members Club, London
2019 Mix|Match, Culture Factory Korjaamo, Helsinki, Finland
2019 Arrows of Desire - For the Love of Saint Sebastian, The Horse Hospital Gallery, London
2018 Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition, York Art Gallery, York
2018 Killers and Thrillers 50+ Artists from 200B.C.- Now, Kabinett Gallery, Boston, USA
2016 Revolution by Art Society Soho, The Black and White Building, London
2016 Black and White by Art Society Soho, The Black and White Building, London
2016 Emerald Winter Pride Exhibition, Islington Arts Factory, London
2015 Passion For Freedom, Mall Galleries, London
2015 Come to the Sabbath, Apiary Studios, London
2014 Winter Pride Art Prize Finalists, Lacey Contemporary Gallery, London
2014 Passion For Freedom, Embassy Tea Gallery, London
2014 Obsession: Love, Ritual, Collection, Embassy Tea Gallery, London
2013 Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition, York St Mary's, York
2012 Anniversaire du Cabaret Revoltarie, Casa das Rosas, São Paulo, Brazil
2012 Illumini, Shoreditch Town Hall, London
2012 The Savill Garden Sculpture Exhibition, The Royal Landscape, Windsor
2012 Religionis Violenta, West Bank Gallery, London
2012 Vanitas, National Trust Sutton House, London
2011 11th Mostra Bambole de Artes, Museu Padre Lima, Itatiba, Brazil
2010 To be or not to be: A False Dichotomy, Shoreditch Town Hall, London
2009 9th Mostra Bambole de Artes Muse Padre Lima, Itatiba, Brazil
Awards and Grants
2023 Aesthetica Art Prize, York Art Gallery, York. Longlisted
2020 Emergency Response Fund for Artists, Arts Council England
2018 Aesthetica Art Prize, York Art Gallery, York. Longlisted
2016 Emerald Winter Pride Art Awards, Islington Arts Factory, London. Runner-up
2015 Passion For Freedom Art Competition, Mall Galleries, London. Shortlisted
2014 Winter Pride Awards UK, Tobacco Dock, London. Shortlisted
2014 Passion for Freedom Art Competition, Embassy Tea Gallery, London. Shortlisted
2012 Aesthetica Art Prize, York St Mary's, York. Longlisted
Residencies
2019|20 Artist-in-Residence, British Optical Association Museum, London
2017 Artist-in-Residence, Brompton Cemetery, The Royal Parks, London
2017 Artist-in-Residence, L'Escargot Members Club, London
Public Art and Commissions
2010 Salomé, Hoxton, London
2010 Art 'Decontemporary' Eagle, Eagle House, London
2009 Be My Medici, Hoxton, London
Press and Institutional Work
2024 Therapeutic Arts Educator, Greenwood Centre (Camden & Islington NHS Trust Foundation), London
2022 Arts at Home Coordinator, Art Explora UK, London
2017 Emanuel von Baeyer, Frieze Masters, London
2014 Contributor, Artlyst, London
2014 Arts Correspondent, East London Radio, London
2005 Volunteer (Education Department), Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
2004 Galeria Luisa Strina, Frieze Art Fair, London
1999 Saatchi Gallery, Boundary Road, London
Glass
2004 Advanced Glass Casting, Université du Verre, Sars-Poteries, France
2003 Higher National Certificate in Glass Making, Westminster College, London
2001 Glass Fusing Certificate, Central St Martins, London
Collections
British Optical Association Museum and private collections globally