Leonel Moura is a European artist born in Lisbon, Portugal, that works with AI and robotics. He created in 2003 his first swarm of ‘Painting Robots’, able to produce original artworks based on emergent behavior. Since then he has produced several artbots, each time more autonomous and sophisticated. RAP (Robotic Action Painter), 2006, created for a permanent exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, is able to generate highly creative and original art works, to decide when the work is ready and to sign it, which it does with a distinctive signature. ISU (The Poet Robot), 2006, generates random poems, very much in the style of the Lettrist Movement and of Concrete Poetry.
In 2007 the Robotarium, the first zoo dedicated to robots and artificial life, opened in Alverca.
Also in 2007, he inaugurates in Lisbon an Art Space [LEONEL MOURA ARTe] to show the works done by his robot artists.



1948, Lisboa

Books

2007
Robotarium, Edition Fenda, Lisboa
Incendio a Lisbona, Edition Nonsoloparole, Italy
2006
Potlatch (editor), Edition Fenda, Lisbon
2005
Bioart, a new kind of art, Edition: Galeria António Prates, Lisboa
2004
Man+robots: symbiotic art, Edition: Institut d'Art Contemporain, Lyon/Villeurbanne, France
2003
Arquitectura Radical (et al), Edition Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Canarias
Fogo em Lisboa, Edition Campo das Letras, Porto
Formigas, vagabundos e anarquia, Edition AAAL, Lisbon
2002
Architopia, art architecture science, Edition CM Cascais, Cascais
10 milhões de razões (et al), Edition Editorial Notícias, Lisbon
2001
Camera Lucida (et al), Edition Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff, Canada
Novo Ciclo (et al), Edition Editorial Notícias, Lisbon
2000
Les hommes poubelles, Edition Grasset/Moulat, Paris
Novas Cartografias (editor), Edition Fenda, Lisbon
1999
Terceira via (et al), Edition Fenda, Lisboa
Los hombres basura,Edition Iralka, Irún, Spain
1998
Anarquista com motorista, Edition Fenda, Lisbon
1997
Anos 70, Edition Fenda, Lisbon
Globalizacion y fragmentacion (et al), Edition Arteleku, Donostia
1996
Os homens-lixo, Edition Fenda, Lisbon
1995
Impossibilité/Impossibilidade, Edition Nouveau Musée/Institut, Villeurbanne, France

Robot Art shows and presentations

2008
"Evolution Haute Couture: Art and Science in the Post-Biological Age", XXX Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow
"Evolution Haute Couture: Art and Science in the Post-Biological Age", National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Kaliningrad
Made in New York, 12 drawings by RAP, LEONEL MOURA ARTe Gallery
End of The History of Art, several robots, LEONEL MOURA ARTe Gallery
2007
ISU: Senseless Poems, LEONEL MOURA ARTe Gallery
FastForward, Palazzo delle Arti Napoli
Olhares de Outono, UCP, Porto
Robotarium, Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Lisboa
ArtEscapes, EvoMusArt, Valencia
Robot Art Gallery, works by artist BOTME, Lisboa
Robot Art Gallery, works by artist MBOT6, Lisboa
Hall of Human Origins, American Museum of Natural History, New York (permanent collection)
Lycée Grandmont, Collection FRAC Centre, Tours
Museu Arqueológico do Carmo, Lisboa
Robotic Art, Ciência Viva, Aveiro
2006
Arbots, Gent: The Robot Talent Show, Gent
Dada 2.0, António Prates Gallery, Lisboa
Art and robots, IAC, Azores
Robotic Art, ISCTE, Lisboa
Robotic Art, ESTC, Amadora
2005
Artware3, 2005, ICPNA, Lima, Peru
Mbots, 2005, Ram Galerie, Rotterdam
Robots, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Mbots, CCB, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisboa
Robotic Art Workshop, Faculty of Architecture, Delft
Mbots, Flash Art Show, Bologne
Mbots, Serralves, Porto
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Rotterdam
Bioart, António Prates Gallery, Lisboa
XIII Biennial, Vila Nova de Cerveira
Théâtre de Privas Gallery, France
Lattuada Studio, Milan
Trayecto Gallery, Victoria
Luis Serpa Gallery, Lisboa
2004
Artbots, The Mink Building, New York
Artech, Lisboa
Painting Robots, Accademia di Brera, Milan
Symbiotic Art, António Prates Gallery, Lisboa
Painting Robots, GA2004, Milan
Mourabots, IST, Lisboa
Symbiotic Art Manifest, CNC, Lisboa
Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris
Frédéric Giroux Gallery, Paris
Fundación el Monte, Sevilla
2003
Palacio de la Merced, Cordoba
Valencia biennial, Valencia
Atelier Culture, Dunkerque
2002
Voronoi, Museu de História Natural, Lisboa
Voronoi, Proyecto Gallery, Vitoria
Le Rectangle, Lyon
Fundación del ICO, Madrid
RGB collages, Atelier, Lisboa
Université de Nanterre, Nanterre

Conferences

2008
Mechanisms of Creativity, Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisboa
Museu Grão Vasco, Viseu
Museu da Cidade, Almada
2007
GA2007, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
How to teach a robot to kill the father, Universidade de Évora, Évora
Art Flow, ISEG, Lisboa
Codebits, Sapo, Lisboa
Cidades Criativas, CAELO, Odivelas
Creative Cities, ANMP, Oeiras
From Artificial Intelligence to Artificial Art, Psicanálise e Mudança, Lisboa
2006
Creative Commons, UMIC, Lisboa
Robotic Art, Shift, Lisboa
Robotic Art, Best, Lisboa
2005
Bioart, Institut Franco-Portugais, Lisboa
Post-Human, Ler Devagar, Lisboa
2004
Art & complexity, the Mourabots, Universidade de Évora, Évora
2003
Artificial Life, Institut Franco-Portugais, Lisboa
Art & ants, Bienal de Cerveira, Vila Nova de Cerveira
Art & ants, Galeria ZDB, Lisboa
2002
Ants, trails and anarchy, Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Canarias
New ideas for art, Real Fundación de Toledo, Toledo
AVIDA, Ler Devagar, Lisboa
Artificial Life, INSA (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées), Lyon

Ancient Art

Personal exhibitions (selection)

2002
Melancolia, Hall des Humanités, Insa, Lyon
2001
Ram Galerie, Rotterdam
António Prates Gallery, Lisboa
2000
Meta architecture, Trem and Arco Gallery, Faro
1999
Trans-ports, Institute of Contemporary Art, Villeurbanne
1998
Quadrado Azul Gallery, Porto
1997
Visor Gallery, Valencia
Quadrado Azul Gallery, Porto
1996
Leonel Moura and Andrés Serrano, MEIAC (Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo), Badajoz
1995
Oliva Arauna Gallery, Madrid
Ram Galerie, Rotterdam
Kunstlerhaus, Dortmund
Verney-Carron Gallery, Villeurbanne
Works, retrospective 1985/1995, Nouveau Musée/Institut, Villeurbanne
1994
Árvore Gallery, Porto
Graça Fonseca Gallery, Lisboa
1993
Ram Galerie, Rotterdam
Claude Fain Gallery, Paris
1992
Graça Fonseca Gallery, Lisboa
Oliva Arauna Gallery, Madrid
Diferença Gallery, Lisboa
1991
Graça Fonseca Gallery, Lisboa
Centre Saint-Vincent, Herblay
Diane Brown Gallery, New York
Fluxus Gallery, Porto
1990
Oliva Arauna Gallery, Madrid
Valentim de Carvalho Gallery, Lisboa
Diane Brown Gallery, New York
Acta Gallery, Milan
1989
Graça Fonseca Gallery, Lisboa
Benet Costa Gallery, Barcelona
Bébert Gallery, Rotterdam
Montenegro Gallery, Madrid
1988
Meyers/Bloom Gallery, Los Angeles
Cómicos Gallery, Lisboa

Collective exhibitions (selection)

2000
MEIAC collection, Centro Cultural de Cascais, Cascais
1999
Ram Foundation, Rotterdam
Institut d’Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne
Museu Abade de Baçal, Bragança
1998
Bianca Gallery, Palermo
Sociedade Martins Sarmento, Guimarães
CCB, Lisboa
1997
Serralves Foundation, Porto
FRAC, Orléans
Sala da las Atarazanas, Valência
Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, Pamplona
Sala Amárica, Alava
1996
DV Gallery, San Sebastian
MEIAC, Badajoz
Quadrado Azul Gallery, Porto
Sala Canal de Isabel II, Madrid
Kunsthalle Wien, Viena
Gabrijel Gallery, Sarajevo
Nouveau Musée/Institut d'Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne




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