Mauro Cerqueira studied at the Escola Superior Artística do Porto, in Guimarães. In 2009, he received an Honorable Mention in the EDP New Artists Award and, in 2008, together with the artist André Sousa, he founded the artist-run space ‘Uma Certa falta de Coerência’ (A Certain Lack of Coherence), an exhibition space that became a constellation of artists that included Babi Badalov, Stephan Dillemuth, Dan Graham, Mieko Meguro, Silvestre Pestana, Luisa Cunha, June Crespo, Pedro G. Romero, Josephine Pryde, Rigo 23 and Daniel Barroca.

Mauro Cerqueira has participated in several solo and group exhibitions in national and international galleries and institutions, including the Kunsthalle Friart, Fribourg, Institute for New Connovative Action, Seattle, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow, MARCO/ Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Centro de Artes Visuais, Coimbra, Galeria Nuno Centeno, Porto, Galería Heinrich Ehrhardt, Madrid, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Gas Natural Fenosa Museum of Contemporary Art, Galeria Graça Brandão, Lisbon, La Casa Encendida, Madrid. His work is represented in various national and international public and private collections.