press: Roberto Barbosa awarded 1st prize by the Tom of Finland Foundation

Galerie 3AP is pleased to announce that Roberto Barbosa has been awarded 1st Prize in the Multiple Figure category at the Tom of Finland Emerging Artist Competition.

We warmly congratulate Roberto Barbosa on this significant recognition and look forward to the continued development of his practice.

The Cruz de Lilies series explores the formal language of the lily while reconfiguring its established symbolic associations. Long connected with notions of purity, fragility, and femininity, the motif is transformed through sculptural qualities culturally coded as masculine. Addressing contemporary conversations around masculinity, body politics, and trans identity, the works question fixed conceptions of gender and propose identity as fluid, relational, and continually negotiated through social and cultural structures. Oscillating between sacred iconography and corporeal presence, the series offers a nuanced reflection on identity as an evolving condition rather than a fixed category.

Roberto Barbosa

Cruz de Lilies series, 2025 and 2026

Pencil on wood, steel