José Bechara was born in 1957, in the city of Rio de Janeiro where he lives and works. He studied at the EAV Parque Lage – Visual Arts School, located in the same city.

The artist took part in major art shows, among them the 25th Bienal Internacional de São Paulo; the 29th Panorama da Arte Brasileira; the 5th Bienal Internacional do MERCOSUL; the 2011 Trienal de Arquitetura de Lisboa; 1st Bienalsur – Buenos Aires; 7th Beijing International Art Biennale; A World of Coexistence – 2022 Jinan International Biennale – CN; Anozero’19 – 3th Coimbra Biennal of Contemporary Art; Bienalsur 2019 – National Museum of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and including the exhibitions “Caminhos do Contemporâneo” e “Os 90” at Brazil’s Paço Imperial in Rio de Janeiro. Bechara has shown his works in individual and group exhibitions at renowned institutions, among them MAM Rio de Janeiro–BR; Culturgest–PT; Ludwig Museum (Koblenz)–DE; Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz–BR; Fundação Iberê Camargo–BR; Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian–PT; MEIAC–ES; Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderna–ES; Gropius Bau–DE; Fundação Biblioteca Nacional–BR; MAC Paraná–BR; MAM Bahia–BR; MAC Niterói–BR; Instituto Tomie Ohtake–BR; Museu Vale–BR; Haus der Kilturen der Welt–DE; Ludwig Forum Fur Intl Kunst–DE; Kunst Museum–DE; Museu Brasileiro da Escultura (MuBE)-BR; Centro Cultural São Paulo–BR; ASU Art Museum–USA; Museo Patio Herreriano (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Español)–ES; MARCO de Vigo–ES; Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma–ES; Carpe Diem Arte e Pesquisa–PT; CAAA–PT; Musee Bozar–BE; Museu Casa das Onze Janelas–BR; Casa de Vidro/Instituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi–BR; Museu Oscar Niemeyer–BR; Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga (CAC Málaga)–ES; Museu Casal Solleric–ES; Fundação Eva Klabin–BR, to name a few.

Bechara’s works are present in private and public collections as Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro-BR; Centre Pompidou-FR; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo-BR; Ludwig Museum (Koblenz)–DE; ASU Art Museum USA; Museu Oscar Niemeyer-BR;  Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma–ES; Universidade de Coimbra – CAPC, Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra- PT; Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection–BR; Fundação Biblioteca Nacional–BR; Ateliê de Gravura Fundação Iberê Camargo Collection–BR; Dulce and João Carlos Figueiredo Ferraz Collection/Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz–BR; João Sattamini Collection/MAC Niterói–BR; Instituto Itaú Cultural–BR; MAM Bahia–BR; MAC Paraná–BR; Culturgest–PT; FLAD Fundação Luso Americana para o Desenvolvimento – PT; Benetton Foundation-IT; CAC Málaga-ES; MOLAA–USA; Ella Fontanal Cisneros–USA; Universidade Cândido Mendes–BR; MARCO de Vigo–ES; Brasilea Stiftung–CH, among others.