To realize his symbolically rich and wryly satirical sculptures and paintings, Rodrigues Goncalves collaborates with artisans in Hong Kong, London, Portugal, and Venice. These high-impact objects and images, which include glass skulls, and chickens laying golden eggs, exploit the languages of spectacle and ceremony, confronting present-day issues and ideas while reflecting on cultural history.
Goncalves was born in Madeira Island, Portugal, where he grew up surrounded by unspoken structures of power woven into architecture, religion, cultural codes, and daily rituals—residual echoes of António Salazar’s dictatorship. The local souvenir shop that his family owned was stocked with novelty items—mass-produced yet “sacred”—that sparked an enduring curiosity about the ways in which power is staged, value established, and trust built through repetition and display.
In 2022, Goncalves earned a BA (Hons) in Glass and Ceramics from the National Glass Centre, Sunderland, United Kingdom, and, in 2023, an MA in Contemporary Art Practice from the Royal College of Art, London. Between these courses, he worked extensively in industrial fabrication environments, deepening his understanding of material, scale, and production. From 2019 to 2024, he also pursued a mentorship with Mike Davies CBE, founding partner of the Richard Rogers Partnership, known for such architectural landmarks as the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and Heathrow Terminal 5, London.
Occupying a space between consumer culture, media, and politics, Goncalves’s current practice deconstructs a contemporary era in which institutions perform morality, public figures embody commercial brands, and the visual realm is an arena in which battles are fought over trust and influence. From sacred relics to corporate logos, ancient symbols to everyday gestures, his practice investigates the symbolic language that mediates our emotions, beliefs, and identities. By recontextualizing classical, modern, and religious iconography, Goncalves sparks and participates in a provocative visual conversation.
Goncalves is the recipient of awards including the Glass Prize Artist Award from Warm Glass, United Kingdom (2021) and Public Choice UK New Artist of the Year Award from Saatchi Gallery, London(2022). His work has been exhibited at institutions including Tate Modern and Camden Arts Centre,London, and the National Glass Centre, Sunderland.
Text edited by Michael Wilson, Senior Writer at Gagosian.
