Alexandre Estrela’s work is an investigation about 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 and their interaction with matter. The works are not just there to be watched, but rather to be unfolded. Each piece evokes synesthetic experiences, visual and auditory illusions, aural and chromatic sensations that function as perceptive traps, leading the subject toward different conceptual meanings. With this strategy, Estrela questions the elements that constitute the act of perceiving, splitting vision into more sensible dimensions, towards the unseen and the unheard.

Some of his recent solo exhibitions include: Um Mês Acordado, curated by Gerard Faggionato and Natxo Checa at Galeria Zé Dos Bois, Lisbon (2022); A Third Reason at Rialto6, Lisbon (2021-2); Día Eléctrico (with João Maria Gusmão) at Galería Travesía Cuatro CDMX, Mexico City (2021-2); All and Everything at Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City (2020); Lixo de Pinho, curated by Óscar Faria at Sismógrafo, Porto, Portugal (2019); Um Mês Acordado, curated by Gerard Faggionato at Indipendenza, Rome (2019); Volta Grande, curated by Luíza Teixeira de Freitas at Pivô, São Paulo, Brazil (2019); Métal Hurlant, curated by Sérgio Mah at Fondation Gulbenkian, Paris (2019); Lua Cão (with João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva), a project curated by Natxo Checa at La Casa Encendida, Madrid (2018), Kunstverein, Munich, Germany (2018), Galeria Zé Dos Bois, Lisbon (2017); Baklite, curated by Sérgio Mah at CAV Centro de Artes Visuais, Coimbra, Portugal (2017); Pockets of Silence, Programa Fisuras, curated by João Fernandes at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, (2016); Roda Lume, curated by Nav Haq at M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Belgium (2016); Meio Concreto, curated by João Fernandes at Museu Serralves, Porto, Portugal (2013); Stargate, curated by Pedro Lapa at Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon (2006), among others.

Estrela has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, among them: Matéria Luminal, curated by Sérgio Mah at Museu Colecção Berardo, Lisbon (2021-2); Points de Rencontres, curated by Frédéric Paul at Centre Pompidou, Paris (2019); Anozero – Coimbra Biennial of Contemporary Art, Portugal. Curated by Luíza Teixeira de Freitas (2017); L’exposition d’un Rêve, curated by Mathieu Copeland at Fondation Gulbenkian, Paris, ACMI, Melbourne, Australia, TATE Modern, London (2017); Hallucinations, a project by Ben Russel at Documenta 14, Athens (2017), among others.

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

Since 2007, Alexandre Estrela is the director and co-programmer with Ana Baliza of a non-profit art venue in Lisbon called Oporto (now called farO).