Rodrigo Andrade’s work is marked by deep investigation and free experimentation with painting—in its material, visual, and historical dimensions. The artist develops an ongoing reflection on its foundations and possibilities, exploring the relationships between matter and expression, gesture and repetition, image and sensation. In his practice, the pictorial surface becomes a field of permanent tension, where thick layers of paint accumulate or dissolve, shaping landscapes, spaces, objects, and graphic forms in constant flux. His dense, intense compositions reflect the pulse and mutable character of life, while his body of work stands as a testament to the vitality and elasticity of contemporary painting, incorporating multiple references, techniques, and themes. Between conceptual rigor and intuitive manifestation, between physicality and iconography, his work consistently seeks to offer a renewed gaze upon the history of painting and its capacity to think, represent, and transform the dynamics of the world. 

The beginning of his career is intertwined with the resurgence of painting in Brazil during the 1980s. Alongside other young artists and school friends, he co-founded the renowned Casa 7, which became a consolidated group and gained prominence through exhibitions at major institutions. Among Andrade’s most recent solo exhibitions are: Pintura Paisagem, Millan and Almeida & Dale, São Paulo (2022); Rodrigo Andrade – Pintura e Matéria, Fundação Iberê Camargo, Porto Alegre (2022); Rodrigo Andrade – Pintura e Matéria, Museu Oscar Niemeyer – MON, Curitiba (2022); Criaturas Ornamentales, Galería Hilario Galguera, CDMX, Mexico (2021); Pinturas da era do absurdo, Millan, São Paulo (2020); Pintura e Matéria (1983–2014), Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo (2017); Pinturas de estrada, Centro Universitário Maria Antonia, São Paulo (2013); Óleo sobre — Intervention in the collection of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (2010); Pinturas: seleção 99–06, Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte (2006); Projeto Parede, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo – MAM São Paulo (2000). 

Andrade has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including: 18th Bienal de São Paulo (1985); Casa 7, Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo – MAC USP (1985); 2nd Bienal de La Habana, Havana, Cuba (1986); BR 80 Pintura Brasil, Itaú Galeria, São Paulo (1991); Brasil – La Nueva Generación, Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas, Venezuela (1991); Viva Brasil Viva, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden (1991); 24th Panorama da Arte Brasileira, MAM São Paulo (1995); Programa Anual de Exposições de Artes Plásticas, Centro Cultural São Paulo (1998); 29th Panorama da Arte Brasileira, MAM São Paulo (2005); 80/90 Modernos, Pós-modernos, Etc., Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo (2007); 29th Bienal de São Paulo (2010); Lugar Nenhum, Instituto Moreira Salles, Rio de Janeiro (2013); 30 x Bienal, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo (2013); O Espírito de cada Época, Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto (2015); Deserto-Modelo “as above so below”, Harold St., London, England (2015); Troposphere, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum (2017); Modos de ver o Brasil: Itaú Cultural 30 anos, OCA, São Paulo (2017); 1981/2021: Contemporary Brazilian Art in the Colecction Andrea and José Olympio Pereira, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro (2021). 

His works are part of collections of institutions such as MAM São Paulo; Pinacoteca de São Paulo; MAC Niterói; MAC USP; Museu de Arte da Pampulha; and Instituto Itaú Cultural.