Beatriz Milhazes (born 1960) is a Brazilian artist. She is known for her work juxtaposing Brazilian cultural imagery and references to western

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

painting. Milhazes is a Brazilian-born collage artist and painter known for her large-scale works and vibrant colors. She has been called "

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

's most successful contemporary painter." Beatriz Milhazes's practice includes painting, drawing and collage. Characterized by vibrant colours, optical movement and energetic visual cadences, her abstract work fuses a diverse repertoire of images and forms, combining elements from her native Brazilian context with European abstraction. As a painter, Beatriz Milhazes uses a unique transfer technique, first painting on plastic sheets before peeling away the dried shapes and collaging them onto the canvas. When she peels the plastic away, the resulting image is superimposed onto the canvas. For these paintings, as well as her collages, prints, and installations, Milhazes draws on a wide range of aesthetic traditions, including folk and decorative art, European modernism, and Antropofagia, a movement founded in the late 1920s that proposed “cannibalizing” the supposedly high-minded European traditions to create a distinctly

Brazilian Culture The culture of Brazil has been shaped by the amalgamation of diverse indigenous cultures, and the cultural fusion that took place among Indigenous peoples in Brazil, Indigenous communities, Portuguese people, Portuguese colonists, and Afro-Brazi ...

. Figurehead of the 80s Generation, period of the Brazilian art characterized by the return of young artists to painting, Beatriz Milhazes still lives in

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

, where she was born in 1960. It is in her studio with a view over the Botanical Garden that she polishes up her work. She has had innumerous international solo exhibitions including

Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo The Pinacoteca de São Paulo (Portuguese for "pinacotheca (picture gallery) of the state of São Paulo") is a visual arts museum focused on Brazilian art from the 19th century to the present day, in dialogue with various cultures from around th ...

(2008); Fondation Cartier, Paris (2009);

Fondation Beyeler The Beyeler Foundation or Fondation Beyeler, with its museum in Riehen, near Basel (Switzerland), owns and oversees the art collection of Hildy and Ernst Beyeler, which features modern and traditional art. The Beyeler Foundation museum includes ...

, Basel (2011);

Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portugal, Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the List of wealthiest c ...

, Lisbon (2012); Museo de Arte Latinoamericano (Malba), Buenos Aires (2012);

Paço Imperial The Paço Imperial (), or Imperial Palace, previously known as the Royal Palace of Rio de Janeiro and Palace of the Viceroys, is a historic building in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Paço Imperial was built in the 18th ce ...

, Rio de Janeiro (2013), Pérez Art Museum, Miami, USA (2014/2015),

White Cube Gallery A white cube gallery is a gallery style that is square or rectangular shape, has unadorned white walls and a light source usually in the ceiling. It typically has hardwood or polished concrete floors. In the early twentieth century art became m ...

, London (2018), MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo (2020), Long Museum ( West Bund), Shanghai (2021),

Pace Gallery The Pace Gallery is a contemporary and modern art gallery with 9 locations worldwide. It was founded in Boston by Arne Glimcher in 1960. His son, Marc Glimcher, is now president and CEO. Pace Gallery operates in New York, London, Hong Kong, ...

, NY (2022), Turner Contermporary and

Galerie Max Hetzler Galerie Max Hetzler is a gallery for contemporary art with locations in Berlin, Paris and London. History The Galerie Max Hetzler was founded in Stuttgart in 1974. In 1981, the gallery presented the first exhibitions of Martin Kippenberger and Albe ...

Berlin (2023). Milhazes is considered as one of the most important Brazilian artists, having participated at

Carnegie International The Carnegie International is a North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe. It was first organized at the behest of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on November 5, 1896, in Pittsburgh. Carnegie established ...

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art is an art museum in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The museum was originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was formerly located ...

, Pittsburgh (1995); Sydney Biennial, Sydney (1998);

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

(2003);

São Paulo Biennial SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

(1998, 2004); and Shangai Biennial, Shangai (2006). Her work is included in important museums and public collections such as

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York; MoMA –

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...

, New York;

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...

, New York; Tate Modern, London; SFMoMA –

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...

, San Francisco; MNBA – Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo; Instituto Itaú Cultural, São Paulo; Fundação Edson Queiroz, Fortaleza; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo Art Museum, Tokyo; 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Fondation Beyeler, Basel; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Milhazes is represented by

, New York; Galeria Fortes D’Aloia e Gabriel, Sao Paulo;

, Berlin; and

White Cube White Cube is a contemporary art gallery founded by Jay Jopling in London in 1993. The gallery has two branches in London: White Cube Mason's Yard in central London and White Cube Bermondsey in South East London; White Cube Hong Kong, in Centra ...

, London. She lives and works in Rio de Janeiro.

Themes

Thematically, the work of Beatriz Milhazes has been described by one critic as "abstract, yet having something new to offer." This description is something that she believes draws people into her style, especially from a Western audience. Her work is known to contain many Brazilian folk references and can be interpreted as complex in this regard. These references, apparent in many of the vibrant colours and shapes, are often associated with the very poorest part of the population and are generally thought to be of little interest to the upper classes or intellectuals. These references have today changed in their meaning as the social elite has attached importance to them—the importance of being Brazilian and having Brazilian art. Finding the idea of a contradiction fascinating, it is another factor that influences the outcome of her art. Her installation Gamboa II, for instance, was strongly influenced by the carnival in her native country Brazil which includes dance, costumes and parades. These elements are evident in the work with its bright colours that also embraces a feminine style to the work.

Influence

Drawing from the optical reactions provoked by artists like

Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in West Norwood, No ...

and

Tarsila do Amaral Tarsila de Aguiar do Amaral (; 1 September 1886 – 17 January 1973) was a Brazilian painter, draftswoman, and translator. She is considered one of the leading Latin American modernist artists, and is regarded as the painter who best achieved Bra ...

, Milhazes believes that art is an essential way for people to aestheticize and exteriorize their thoughts and feelings. Her work often serves as an exploration of the concept of conflict. Filled with intense colors and shapes, her work serves to inspire a strong dialogue as well as “challenging eye movements over easy beauty.” Milhazes also draws her influences from many other female artists such as

Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (; 14 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist born to Jewish parents, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in the Russian Empire, now Ukraine, and was formally trained in Russia and Germany, be ...

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 March 6, 1986) was an American Modernism, modernist painter and drafter, draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades and whose work remained largely independent of major art movements. Called the "M ...

, and Elizabeth Murray. She has also cited the canon of Brazilian art history as “empowering in its celebration of women artists such as herself.”

Awards and medals

Didactic activities

Milhazes' paintings are in the permanent collections of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, the Guggenheim, the

, the picture ''Marotoloco'' (2014–25) is in the collection of the

Pérez Art Museum Miami Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)—officially known as the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County—is a contemporary art museum that relocated in 2013 to the Maurice A. Ferré Park in Downtown Miami, Florida. Founded in 1984 as the Cent ...

, the

Banco Itaú Banco Itaú S.A. was a Brazilian bank that merged with Unibanco on November 4, 2008, to form Itaú Unibanco, Banco Itaú Unibanco. History Banco Itaú began in 1945 under the name ''Banco Central de Crédito'' (Central Bank of Credit) and later ...

, and the

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía The ''Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía'' ("Queen Sofía National Museum Art Centre"; MNCARS) is Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992, and is named for Queen Sofía. I ...

. Her 2000 painting "Meu Limão" "sold n 2012for $2.1 million dollars at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in New York City, making her the highest-priced living Brazilian artist at auction."

''Painting is the tree trunk of my developments, but other techniques have been playing a bold dialogue between them. An approach of new methods and techniques is very important for the evolving process of the studio practice. I also have an important body of work in special collage, screenprint, sculpture and set design. More recently developing murals and glass facades for public art projects.'' (Beatriz Milhazes, 2024)

Technique

In terms of technique, Milhazes is predominantly concerned with the principle of collage, drawing from her combined knowledge of both Latin American and European traditions. The cultural mixing of her native Brazil is something Milhazes is aware of and to some degree communicates in her paintings as well as being in ties with the Brazilian modernist movement. Milhazes many other influences come from her own fascination with the decorative arts, fashion, and geometry. Milhazes has described her own work in saying "I think of my work as geometric, yet I can't put everything into a square or a circle." Her self-developed process of art making came about during her extensive researching of printing processes in the 1980s. A slow but steady process, time is key to everything for Milhazes. Many of her works start with the painting of plastic sheets, which are then glued to a canvas. These plastic sheets are then peeled off of the canvas like a decal leaving behind paint. Some of these plastic sheets have been reused by Milhazes for as long as ten years. Often if a particular motif or drawing is well liked by the artist it will be kept, repainted, and added to multiple compositions. She describes these pieces of plastic affectionately, stating that they are imprinted with a memory, a memory that can cause irregularities. These irregularities are happily accepted by Milhazes as something that just comes with her process. In her works, Beatriz focuses on achieving a smooth surface as opposed to visible brush strokes with thickness being an intriguing topic but far from integral to her work and its importance. In this way she can play with the various sheen and levels of contrast that her materials provide in an attempt to further transform her canvas. In her own words Milhazes likens her process to the working-class, saying "I tell my friends that I'm like a bank worker...I come to the studio five days a week and do my job. I pay attention to detail, and try not to make mistakes."

Special projects

Exhibitions

Milhazes has had solo and group exhibitions in a number of museums, including the

and the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. From 4–21 July 2009, the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

presented a major exhibition of her work. Inspired by late Brazilian landscape architect

Roberto Burle Marx Roberto Burle Marx (August 4, 1909 – June 4, 1994) was a Brazilian landscape architect (as well as a painter, print maker, ecologist, naturalist, artist and musician) whose designs of parks and gardens made him world-famous. He is credited w ...

, artist Beatriz Milhazes created Gamboa II, an installation suspended from the ceiling at the

Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. Notable Jewish museums include: Albania * Solomon Museum, Berat Australia * Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...

in NYC from May 2016 to mid September 2016. In 2015, Milhazes presented her first United States career survey at the

, in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. ''Beatriz Milhazes: Jardim Botânico'' introduced the US audience to her large-scale pieces from the 1990s.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

Frédéric Paul Frédéric Paul (born in 1959) is a French curator and writer who works and lives in Vannes and Paris, France. Career Paul was former director of the F.R.A.C. Limousin (Limoges, France) from 1990 to 2000, and of the Domaine de Kerguéhennec from ...

, ''Beatriz Milhazes, Meu Bem'', Rio de Janeiro: Base7 Projetos Culturais, 2013.

External links

* Beatriz Milhazes Official Website - https://beatrizmilhazes.com/ *

Artist Page
Beatriz Milhazes
*White Cube Artist Page
Beatriz MilhazesArt on the Underground - Peace and Love, Beatriz Milhazes
-

Gloucester Road tube station Gloucester Road () is a London Underground station in Kensington, West London, England. Its entrance is located close to the junction of Gloucester Road and Cromwell Road. Close by are the Cromwell Hospital and Baden-Powell House. The station ...

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

2009 Exhibition at the Foundation Cartier in Paris. HD images on this blog : ZoomArt.fr (French)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milhazes, Beatriz 1960 births Living people 20th-century printmakers 20th-century Brazilian painters 21st-century Brazilian painters Brazilian contemporary artists Brazilian printmakers Brazilian abstract painters Brazilian collage artists Artists from Rio de Janeiro (city) Women printmakers Commanders of the Order of Ipiranga 20th-century Brazilian women painters 21st-century Brazilian women painters