Born in 1966 in São Domingos (Guinea-Bissau), Nú Barreto has been living and working in Paris since 1989.
Graduated from the École Nationale des Métiers de l'Image des Gobelins (Paris, France), Nú Barreto has forged a language of his own and developed a multidisciplinary and political practice. His original work was quickly spotted. In 1998, he represented his country at the Lisbon World Fair (Portugal). His work has since then received international exposure and Nú Barreto has established himself as one of the most prominent artists of African contemporary art.
As evidenced by the many solo and group exhibitions dedicated to his work, among which: AFRO, Rencontres avec l'art de l'Afrique contemporaine at the Centre culturel de l'Escale in Levallois-Perret (France) in 2019 ; 0.10 RELOADED Avant-Garde at the Sabine Knust gallery in 2018, in Munich (Germany) where he exhibited alongside William Kentridge, El Anatsui and Isaac Julien ; the great exhibition entitled Lumières d'Afrique, which, between 2015 and 2018, travelled to the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, (France), the Donwahi Foundation in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), the IFAN Museum in Dakar (Senegal), the Palace of Nations in Geneva (Switzerland), the African Union of Addis-Abeba (Ethiopia) and at the EUMETSAT in Darmstadt (Germany) ; Hommage à la Biennale d'Art contemporain africain de Dakar in Martigny (Switzerland), and Convergences held at the headquarter of the West African Economic and Monetary Union in Ouagadougou (Burkina-Faso) in 2016. In 2015, the artist enjoyed his first solo show in China entitled Ressonância at the Taipa House Museum of Macao (China), and took part in Rastros at the Capixaba do Negro Museum (MUCANE) in Vitória (Brazil). Before, in 2013, he was exhibited at the Boribana Museum of Dakar (Senegal) ; at the Arpád Szenes and Viera da Silva Foundation in Lisbon, PLMJ, (Portugal) in 2012 on the occasion of Fundação PLMJ, 100 obras - 10 años ; at the Latin American Foundation of São Paulo (Brazil) in 2011 ; at the Biennale of São Paulo (Brazil) in 2010 ; at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie de la Villette for the exhibition Quand l'Afrique s'éveillera, in Paris (France) in 2007. In 2006, he took part in the famous Biennial of Contemporary African Art of Dakar (Senegal), as well as in Afrique Europe - rêves croisés, an exhibition organized by the EU Commission at Les Ateliers des Tanneurs in Brussels (Belgium).
Nú Barreto's works are featured in major public collections such as the Musée Capixaba do Negro Museum (MUCANE) in Vitória, Brazil ; the Pro-Justitiae Foundation in Porto, and the Arpád Szenes and Viera da Silva Foundation (PLMJ), in Lisbon, Portugal ; the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) in Ouagadougou, in Burkina-Faso ; as well as the Taipa House Museum of Macao in China.
Nú Barreto has been represented by la Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels, since 2018.