Cristina Canale was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1961. Lives and works in Berlin. Germany.

From 1980 to 1983 she studied drawing and painting at Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Laje, Rio de Janeiro, the same school where the group exhibition “Como vai você, Geração 80?” [How are you Generation 80s?] was held in 1984. Canale belonged in a group of young artists who, after the exhibition, launched a movement in favor of the revitalization of painting in Brazil. In 1991 she showed at the 21st São Paulo International Biennial, at which she was awarded the State Governor Prize.

In 1993 Canale moved to Berlin. That same year, the State of Brandenburg awarded her an artistic residency at Wiepersdorf Castle. From 1993 to 1996 she attended the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts with a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), having Dutch conceptual artist Jan Dibbets as advisor. The artist currently lives and works in Berlin. She maintains a studio in Rio de Janeiro, where she stays for lengthy periods.