João Freitas

Born in Portugal in 1989 and raised in Luxembourg, João Freitas lives and works in Brussels. A graduate of the Drawing Department at ENSAV La Cambre (2014, Grande Distinction), he works with humble, often overlooked materials—Tetra Pak construction sheeting, abrasive paper, industrial packaging—objects designed to protect, serve, and eventually disappear.

Rather than adding, Freitas works by subtraction. He scratches, sands and wears away each layer, gradually stripping the material back until something unexpected emerges. Sitting between drawing and sculpture, his practice turns abrasion into a form of drawing and wear into a record of time: traces of production, use and transformation embedded within the material itself.

His work has been presented in solo exhibitions at LAGE EGAL (Brussels, 2026), Galleria FuoriCampo (Siena, 2026), Santa Maria della Scala (Siena, 2023), Galerie La Patinoire Royale Bach (Brussels, 2022) and Centre d’art Dominique Lang (Dudelange, 2020). He has been artist-in-residence at TAMAT (Tournai) and Haus des Papiers(Berlin), and will join RAVI (Liège) in 2027. Freitas received the Prix Médiatine in 2018 and the SOFAM Grant in 2025/26. His work is held in the collections of the Ministry of Culture of Luxembourg, the City of Dudelange and Haus des Papiers.