A decisive figure in Brazilian contemporary art, Beatriz Milhazes is one of the most prominent names in abstraction today. Over the last four decades, the artist’s pictorial thought balances carefully composed compositions with a profusion of elements incorporated from the tropical landscape, deeply inscribed in Brazilian culture. Her works evidence precise details while appearing spontaneous, fusing fluency and order in an expansive organic structure. Milhazes mobilizes scrupulous research in the realm of ornamentation, with references that range from winding Baroque expressions to Carnaval attire, drawn as much from vernacular dynamism as from classical formalization. Her graphics and patterns of varying sizes reach a syncopated harmonic unity, materialized in her unique monotransfer technique. Milhazes’ practice comprehends a choreographic dimension of painting, unfolding into collage, engravings, embroidery and sculpture.
Among her solo exhibitions are 100 Sóis, MAB – Museu da Arte da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil (2026); Pinturas Nômades, Casa Roberto Marinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2025); Rigor and Beauty, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA (2025); Beatriz Milhazes | 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, V&A Applied Arts Pavillion, Arsenale, Venice, Italy (2024); Beatriz Milhazes: Maresias, Tate St Ives, St Ives, UK (2024); Beatriz Milhazes: Maresias, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK (2023); Mistura Sagrada, Pace Gallery, New York, USA (2022); Ballet em Diagonais, Long Museum, Shanghai, China (2021) and Avenida Paulista, MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo; Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, Brazil (2020).
Beatriz Milhazes has works in important public collections, including Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Tate Modern, London, UK; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA; MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA; SFMoMA – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo, Brazil; MAM – Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; MAM – Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro Brazil; Carnegie Museum of Art – Alexander C. and Tillie S. Speyer, Fund for Contemporary Art in honor of Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pittsburgh, USA; LUMA Foundation, Arles, France; TBA21 – Thyssen- Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Madrid, Spain; 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan; Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland; Acervo Banco Itaú, São Paulo, Brazil; Perez Art Museum, Miami, USA; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, USA; Instituto Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, Brazil; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; MNBA – Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Fundación La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain; Fundação Edson Queiroz, Fortaleza, Brazil; The Bohen Fondation, New York, USA; Tampa Museum of Art, Florida, USA; Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Niterói, Brazil; National Gallery of Art Washington, Washington DC, USA; Long Museum, Shanghai, China; Center for Curatorial Studies Bard College/Hessel Museum of Art, New York, USA; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, USA; Museu de Belas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela; Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, USA; Deutsche Bank Collection, Berlin, Germany; Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA; Coleção Berardo, Lisbon, Portugal; La Sacem Neuilly-Sur Seine, France; Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles, USA and Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, USA.