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, tapestry and sculpture.
Among her solo exhibitions are Beatriz Milhazes | 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, V&A Applied Arts Pavillion, Arsenale, Venice, Italy (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); Avenida Paulista, MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo; Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, Brazil (2020); Rio Azul, White Cube Bermondsey, London, UK (2018); Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, Germany (2016); Marola, James Cohan Gallery, New York, USA; White Cube, Hong Kong (2015); Jardim Botânico, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, USA (2014); Four Seasons, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal (2012); Beatriz Milhazes, Screenprints 1996 – 2011, Whitechapel at Windsor, Miami, USA; Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, Germany; Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK (2010-2011) and Coisa Linda, Artist’s Book Project, MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA (2002).
Beatriz Milhazes has works in important public collections, including Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, UK; Coleção Berardo, Lisbon, Portugal; Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland; Fundación La Caixa, Madrid, Spain; MAM – Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazli; MAM – Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro Brazil; Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nova York, USA; MoMA – The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; SFMoMA – São Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA.