assume vivid astro focus (avaf) is both an alias of Brazilian-born New York-based artist Eli Sudbrack, and the name of an international group of visual and performance artists, with French multimedia artist Christophe Hamaide-Pierson one of the main collaborators. Sudbrack was born in 1968 and moved to New York in 1998.

Sudbrack first exhibited in New York in 2000, at which time he used the name Superastrolab, switching to assume vivid astro focus in 2001, the name always rendered in lowercase. avaf's work includes painting, drawing, photography, film and digital technology.

avaf has been featured in Art Forum, Frieze, Flash Art, L'Uomo Vogue, V Magazine, W Magazine, and a catalogue was recently published by the Whitney Museum of American Art for the 2004 Whitney Biennial.

avaf is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawing Collection.

avaf is currently based in New York and Paris, and is represented by John Connelly Presents, New York, and Peres Projects, Berlin/LA.

The name derives from two musical sources: Throbbing Gristle

Throbbing Gristle

Throbbing Gristle were an English industrial, avant-garde music and visual arts group that evolved from the performance art group COUM Transmissions...

's album Assume Power Focus, and the band Ultra Vivid Scene

Ultra Vivid Scene

Ultra Vivid Scene was an American alternative rock band, started by Kurt Ralske.Former Nothing But Happiness and Crash guitarist Ralske started Ultra Vivid Scene in 1987, was signed to 4AD Records in 1988, and released his first UVS EP, She Screamed, in 1988...

.

Exhibitions

Recent avaf collective exhibitions include:

• Tropicália, curated by Carlos Basualdo, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
  Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
  The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
  
  , Barbican Arts Centre, London, UK, Bronx Museum of the Arts
  Bronx Museum of the Arts
  The Bronx Museum of the Arts is a cultural institution located in the New York City borough of The Bronx. The museum focuses on contemporary and 20th century works created by American artists, and it has hosted exhibitions of art and design from Latin America, Africa and Asia...
  
  , Bronx, New York
  New York
  New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
  
  
• Trial Ballons/Globos Sonda, curated by Yuko Hasegawa, Agustin Pérez Rubio, and Octavio Zaya, MUSAC, León, Spain
• Infinite Painting, curated by Francesco Bonami and Sarah Cosulich Canarutto, Villa Manin Centre for Contemporary Art, Codroipo, Italy.
• "absolutely venomous accurately fallacious (Naturally Delicious)," Deitch Projects, New York
• "In Living Contact," 28th São Paulo Biennial, curated by Ivo Mesquita, São Paulo, Brazil
• "FAUX DARK SHADA RUSTIC MONIQUES," Hiromi Yoshii Gallery. Tokyo, Japan
• "Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. Tokyo, Japan
• "Destroy Athens," Athens Biennial, Athens, Greece
• "a very anxious feeling," John Connelly Presents, New York
• "Abra Vana Allucinete Fogo," Casa Triangulo, São Paulo, Brazil
• "butch queen realness with a twist of pastel color," John Connelly Presents, New York, USA
• "Open Call," Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
• "The Garden Party", Deitch Projects, New York
• "absorb viral attack fantasy", Hiromi Yoshii, Tokyo, Japan
• "assume vivid astro focus XVI", Galeria Massimo de Carlo (project space), Milan, Italy
• "Panic Room" works from the Dakis Joannou Collection, Deste Foundation Centre For Contemporary Art, Athens
• "Ecstasy: In and About Altered States," Museum of Contemporary Art, The Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles, California
• "Infinite Painting," Villa Manin Centro d'Arte Contemporanea, Codroipo, Italy
• "assume vivid astro focus XII", Tate Liverpool
  Tate Liverpool
  Tate Liverpool is an art gallery and museum in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The museum was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corporation...
  
  , Liverpool, England
• "assume vivid astro focus XIX", Hotel, London
• "assume vivid astro focus XX", Galerie Art: Concept
• "Off the Wall Series", Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis,
• "assume vivid astro focus XIV" (in collaboration with Elmgreen and Dragset
  Elmgreen and Dragset
  Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset are artist-collaborators since 1995 and their work explores the relationship between art, architecture and design....
  
  ), Galeria Massimo de Carlo, Milan, Fall/Winter, 2005
• "assume vivid astro focus XII", Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, England

Sudbrack has had solo projects at:

• Massimo de Carlo Gallery, Milan, Italy
• Hiromi Yoshii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• Galeria Triangulo, São Paulo, Brazil
• Deitch Projects
  Deitch Projects
  Deitch Projects was a contemporary art gallery in New York City founded by Jeffrey Deitch.-History:Since opening with a performance by Vanessa Beecroft in February 1996, the gallery has presented nearly one hundred and eighteen solo exhibitions and projects, ten thematic exhibitions, and a few...
  
  , New York

External links

• www.assumevividastrofocus.com
• avaf page at Peres Projects
• Tate Liverpool exhibition in 2005
• avaf page at John Connelly Presents