João Onofre was born in Lisbon in 1976, where he lives and works. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, earned an MA in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths College, University of London (1999), and holds a PhD in Contemporary Art from the College of Arts of the University of Coimbra (2018). He has exhibited widely his work individually in several museums and galleries internationally, namely: João Onofre, I-20, New York (2001); João Onofre, P.S.1. / MoMA Contemporary Art Center, New York (2002); Nothing Will Go Wrong, MNAC, Lisbon, and CGAC, Santiago de Compostela (2003); João Onofre, Kunsthalle Wien. Project Space Karlsplatz. Wien (2003); João Onofre, Magazin 4, Bregenz (2004); João Onofre, Toni Tàpies, Barcelona (2005); Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon (2007); João Onofre, Galleria Franco Noero, Turin (2007); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2011).

Onofre took part in numerous international group exhibitions, amongst them, most notably: Plateau of Humankind - The 49th Venice Biennale, Human Interest at Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; Performing Bodies, Tate Modern, London;Youth of Today, Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt; Video, An Art, A History 1965-2005 New Media collection, Centre Pompidou, Sydney- Contemporary Art Museum, Barcelona- Fundació La Caixa, Taipei Fine Art Museum.

His work is represented in public and private collections worldwide such as: Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou – MNAM/CCI, Paris; The Weltkunst Foundation, Zurich; La Caixa, Barcelona; MACS – Museu de Serralves, Porto; CAM – Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon; MNAC – Museu do Chiado, Lisbon; GAM – Galeria D’Arte moderna e contenporanea, Turin; Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Ministère de Culture, Paris.