Frida Baranek (born 1961) is a Brazilian sculptor known for creating large sculptural works that incorporate fibers and industrial materials such as plates, rods, and iron or steel wires as commentary on industrialization and the environment in Brazil.

Biography

Frida Baranek was born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. She graduated from

Universidade Santa Úrsula University Santa Úrsula is a private university (Roman Catholic) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was founded in 1937 by Alceu Amoroso Lima. It was the first of Rio de Janeiro's higher education institutions to accept women. The main campus is lo ...

, with a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1983, and from Parsons School of Design with a master's degree in sculpture in 1985. She has lived and worked in São Paulo, Paris, Berlin, and New York City. Frida currently live in Miami. She owns one studio in Rio de Janeiro and one in Miami.

Career

She creates organic forms and subjects using inorganic materials e.g., "Untitled," (1985) stone, wood boxes, bulbs and electric wire, and "Como vai você, Geração 80? ow are you, Generation 80?" (1984), Steel. "Como vai você, Geração 80?" is incorporated into and organic material (water) and it flows throughout the water seamlessly. Sculptures such as "Dormindo em Veneza leeping in Venice, (1990), "Bolo

ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It's located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The name ...

, (1990), and Não classificado nclassified (1992) incorporate puffs of steel wool and sheets of steel that shimmer like constellations. Others take the form of fences and screens to evoke mass and space e.g. Untitled, (1988) iron flexible, plates and stones and Untitled, (1991) steel rods and wire. Latent references to women's work are also incorporated in her sculptures. The artist also knits and weaves thin thread into womb and bag-like forms like in her sculpture "Swirls Bege," (2008). Baranek's overwhelming tangles and whiskered sacs refer to the sexual symbol of women's hair; this is not only a symbol of inclination, but of danger as well. Other materials used in her sculptures are stones, springs, bars, glass, air chambers, tires, rubber balls, water, sand, etc. In 1984, in a selected group exhibition called "Como vai você, Geração 80?" at the Escola de Artes Visuais in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Baranek created a stained plastic buoy floating in Rodrigo de Freitas Lake. The buoy is similar to the shape of the

Dois Irmãos Dois Irmãos is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Its original German name was ''Baumschneis''.http://www.doisirmaos.rs.gov.br/historia.php Publishing The Catholic subscription book club Minha Biblioteca Católica was c ...

Mountain, that is close to the exhibition and is 0.9 meters wide and 30. meters long. The buoy is surrounded by water. The sculpture's satin surface that is silver reflects light bouncing off the water. Baranek's sculptures reflect a skewed reality, strangeness, and unexpected poetical relationships. Her works are held by the

São Paulo Museum of Modern Art The São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, (Portuguese: Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, or MAM), is located in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo. Founded by Francisco Matarazzo Sobrinho and Yolanda Penteado, and built in 1948, the museum is modelled on ...

Museum of Contemporary Art, University of São Paulo The Museum of Contemporary Art, University of São Paulo (Portuguese, ''Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo'') is a contemporary art museum located in the main campus of the University of São Paulo, in São Paulo, Brazil ...

, the Kemper Art Museum, and the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openin ...

Family

She was married to journalist

Roger Cohen Roger Cohen (born 2 August 1955) is a journalist and author. He was a reporter, editor and columnist for ''The New York Times, and the International Herald Tribune (later re-branded as the'' '' International New York Times)''.and became head of ...

and has four children. They divorced in 2015.

Exhibitions

*1985 Petite Galerie, Rio de Janeiro *1988 Galeria Sérgio Millet, Rio de Janeiro *1990 Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo *1993 Stux Gallery, New York *1993 ''ULTRAMODERN: The Art of Contemporary Brazil'',

*1996 Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo *1999 La Maison du Brésil, Brussels *2001 Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo *2004 HAP Galeria, Rio de Janeiro *2006 ''Frida Baranek - Lavish Pause / Lange Pause,'' Galerie im Traklhaus,

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

*2009 Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, Brazil *2013 Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazi *2013 H.A.P. Galeria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil *2014 Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, Brazil *2014 Heike Moras Art, London, UK *2017 Untitled Art Fair, Miami, USA *2019 "Liminality", Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, Brasil

Awards

* 1992 Fulbright International Fellowship in the Visual Arts, USA * 1993 Studio Residency, Paris * 2019 Studio Residency, Miami * 2019 Women Who Make History, Miami * 2019 Recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grants

References

External links

*http://www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/islandpress/html/A002.html *http://brunodavidgallery.com/artistDetail.cfm?id_artist=59 *http://www.arch.wustl.edu/collection/explore/artist/66 *http://www.fridabaranek.com/about/ *https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/roger-cohen-my-life-in-media-436014.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Baranek, Frida 1961 births Brazilian people of Polish descent Brazilian sculptors Artists from Rio de Janeiro (city) Parsons School of Design alumni Living people Brazilian contemporary artists