Alexandre Estrela’s work is an investigation on the essence of images that expands spatially and temporally through different supports. In his videos and installations, Estrela examines the subject’s psychological reactions to images in their interaction with matter. Each piece has several layers to which we are initiated step by step. The works are not just there to be watched, but rather to be unfolded. Each piece convokes synesthetic experiences, visual and sound illusions, aural and chromatic sensations that function as perceptive traps, leading the subject toward conceptual levels. With this strategy Estrela is constantly problematizing the elements that constitute the act of perceiving, splitting vision into further sensible dimensions towards the unseen and the unheard.  

His solo show Studio Now, curated by Sophie Cavoulacos and part of the Program for the Kravis Studio, will be on view at MoMA, New York, 2023. In 2024 he will be presenting an exhibition at  Culturgest in Lisbon, curated by Bruno Marchand. 

Further selected solo exhibitions include Flat Bells, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio, MoMA, New York (2023); Mickey Mouth (con René Bertholo), Uppercut, Lisbon (2023);  A Third Reason, Rialto6, Lisbon, 2022; Forgotten Sounds of Tomorrow, Galeria Bruno Murías, Lisbon, 2022; Día Eléctrico (with João Maria Gusmão) at Travesía Cuatro CDMX, 2021; All and Everything, Rufino Tamayo Museum, Mexico City, 2020; Um Mês Acordado, curated by Gerard Faggionato at Indipendenza, Rome, 2019; All and Everything, Den Frie, Copenhagen, 2019;  Volta Grande, curated by Luiza Teixeira de Freitas at Pivô, 2019, São Paulo; Métal Hurlant, curated by Sérgio Mah at Fondation Gulbenkian, Paris, 2019;  Lua Cão (with João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva), a project initiated in 2017 by Galeria Zé Dos Bois in Lisbon, that traveled to the Kunstverein München, and concluded at La Casa Encendida in Madrid in January 2019; Knife in the Water, 2018, at Travesía Cuatro, Madrid; Ouro Mouro, 2018, at the Quetzal Art Centre, Vidigueira, Portugal; Baklite, 2017, at CAV Centro de Artes Visuais, Coimbra, Portugal; Cápsulas de silencio, 2016, within the Fisuras Program, at the Reina Sofía Museum, Madrid; Roda Lume, 2016, at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Antwerp, M HKA, Belgium; Meio Concreto, 2013, at Museu Serralves in Porto, Portugal; Um homem entre quatro paredes, 2013, at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil; The Sunspot Circle, 2013, at The Flat Time House, London, United Kingdom, among others. 

The artist has also participated in numerous group shows in institutions and biennales such as: Points de rencontres, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2019; Anozero – Bienal de Arte Contemporânea de Coimbra, 2017, curated by Luíza Teixeira da Freitas; L’exposition d’un Rêve, 2017, at Gulbenkian Foundation Paris, ACMI Melbourne and TATE Modern, a project by Mathieu Copeland; Hallucinations, Documenta 14, 2017, Athens, a festival curated by Ben Russel, etc. 

His work is included in the following international collections: Fundación Museo de Arte Reina Sofía (Spain); Colección Inelcom (Spain); Museo Rufino Tamayo (Mexico); Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal); Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea — Museu do Chiado (Portugal); Fundação Telecom (Portugal); Fundação Serralves (Portugal); António Cachola Collection (Portugal); MAAT — Museum of Art Technology and Architecture (Portugal); Taguchi Art Collection (Japan), Fundación CALOSA, Irapuato, Guanajuato, (Mexico); Collection Centre Pompidou (France); Coleçao Teixeira de Freitas (Portugal); Collection du Frac Bretagne (France); Collection of Maria João and Armando Cabral (Portugal), among others.  

Entre 2007 y 2020, Alexandre Estrela fue director de Oporto, un espacio artístico sin ánimo de lucro en Lisboa. En la actualidad, Oporto se llama FarO y funciona en un teatro que parasita los muros exteriores de una iglesia. Programado junto con Ana Baliza.