Mário Pires Cordeiro

Portuguese-American artist Mário Pires Cordeiro experiments with media and color as he explores the interaction between art and design, with a larger intention to comment on the interwoven relationship between visual art and functional objects. His practice is deeply rooted in the theme of color—unpacking the symbolic and cultural meanings imposed on it in contemporary society by sourcing colors from trends and design forecasts as well as from particular environments or publications.

Born and raised in Portugal, Pires Cordeiro received his B.A. in Fine Art Painting from Faculdade de Belas Artes de Lisboa before moving to the United Kingdom to pursue further studies. An awardee of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation grant, Pires Cordeiro earned an M.F.A. in Fine Arts from Chelsea College of Art and Design at the University of the Arts London, where he later pursued a PHD as well.  

​​Prior to the studio program at Minnesota Street Project, he exhibited internationally and collaborated in different countries such as Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the United Kingdom. Over the course of his thirteen years in London, he was awarded the Arts Council England Grant, the Arts Council England Awards for Artists prize and the European Leonardo d’ Vinci Grant Award. His work has been exhibited in museums, art fairs, galleries, independent art projects, and commercial spaces. Pires Cordeiro regularly collaborates with architects, designers, writers, musicians and scholars. ​​

He moved to San Francisco and established MPC Studio in 2015.