Beatriz Milhazes: Jardim Botânico

By Suzanne Cohen

On September 19, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) will unveil “Beatriz Milhazes: Jardim Botânico,” the first major U.S. survey of works by this well-known Brazilian abstract artist. On view through January 11, 2015, this show will feature over 40 large-scale paintings, collages and screen prints from the past 25 years of her career.

The exhibition’s title references both the neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, home to Milhazes’ studio, and the dichotomy in her work between structure and rational order, and sensuality, expression and emotion. Organized by PAMM chief curator Tobias Ostrander, “Jardim Botânico” follows a loose chronological order, with sequential sections focused on formal investigations. The works flow from  Milhazes’ fascination in the 1990s with carefully rendered lace, ruffles, and decorative roses and pearls to her interest in bold colors, stars, hearts and diagonal lines through to her incorporation of horizontal and vertical stripes in her large-scale paintings of the 2000s. Her more recent works show an increased use of interlocking, pure geometric forms that reference early European Modernism.

Beatriz Milhazes, Chora, menino (Cry, Boy),1996, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 75.” Collection Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, Caracas and New York. ©2014 Beatriz Milhazes.

“Milhazes’ practice has been largely unexamined in the United States, and this exhibition offers an exciting opportunity to bring her energetic and visually compelling paintings to new audiences,” said PAMM director Thom Collins. “‘Jardim Botânico’ is also particularly resonant in our region, which is home to one of the largest populations of Brazilian-born Americans in the country. The exhibition connects the experience of art, architecture and nature, and we are looking forward to sharing it with our community.”

Born in 1960 in Rio de Janeiro, Milhazes still lives and works in the city. Known for her colorful, kaleidoscopic collages, prints, paintings and installations, Milhazes is inspired by Latin American and European traditions. The recurring arabesque motifs present in her work are inspired by Brazilian lacework, carnival decoration, music and colonial Baroque architecture. The balance of harmony and dissonance in her work references pieces by Tarsila do Amaral, Oswald de Andrade, Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky and Robert Delaunay.

Milhazes’ signature painting technique creates highly textured surfaces that give her paintings grit and physicality, which she contrasts with the use of bright colors and geometric forms. By painting individual figurative elements in acrylic onto clear plastic sheets, she is able to test their placement and layer them on the canvas-manipulating the elements as collage materials. The sheets are glued to the canvas one at a time, creating layers of “decals.” As the glue dries, she rips each “decal” off to reveal the paint’s “back side,” with the image presented in reverse. This process removes some pieces of paint, giving her works a prematurely aged look and defying the expectation of a smooth canvas surface.

Beatriz Milhazes, Mariposa, 2004, acrylic on canvas, 98” x 98.” Private Collection. Photo: Sérgio Guerini. Courtesy of Galeria Almeida & Dale. ©2014 Beatriz Milhazes.

“The tension between order and emotive abstraction in Beatriz’s compositions invigorates her body of work, simultaneously engaging the viewer and the space,” Ostrander said. “The scope of ‘Jardim Botânico’ provides an opportunity to not only examine the arc of her oeuvre, but to explore how her investigations into decorative and geometric abstraction have inspired work by younger generations of artists. The exhibition emphasizes Beatriz’s important artistic contributions and highlights the continued relevance of her practice.”

Milhazes’ style emerged from a desire to reinvigorate painting, a seemingly static medium that was considered by many to be out of touch with contemporary life. An abstract painter, she is part of a generation of Brazilian artists who became known in the late 1980s, among them Daniel Senise and Adriana Varejao, for revitalizing painting through references to the medium’s history. She draws the basic motifs of her oeuvre from the history and culture of her homeland as well as from Western art history. Serving as sources of inspiration are the Brazilian movements of Tropicalismo and Modernismo, in which folkloric elements coalesce with influences from the Americas and Europe, as well as the work of Matisse, Piet Modrian, Sonia Delaunay-Terk and Bridget Riley.

Beatriz Milhazes, Santo Antônio, Albuquerque, 1994, acrylic on canvas, 63 ½” x 75 ½.” Collection of Diana and Moises Berezdivin, Puerto Rico. Photo: Tyler Coburn. Courtesy of Berezdivin Collection/Espacio 1414. ©2014 Beatriz Milhazes.

Milhazes has exhibited around the world, and her work can be found at the Guggenheim Museum, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Madrid; 21^st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan; and the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Mass.

“Beatriz Milhazes: Jardim Botânico” opens September 19, 2014, at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. 1103 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, Fla. 33132 / Phone: 305 375 3000 / www.pamm.org

Suzanne Cohen is an arts writer based in Orlando, Fla.

Notes

* This article is based on the research materials and press releases provided by the Pérez Art Museum Miami.