Beatriz Milhazes

Milhazes is one of the most critically acclaimed Latin American artists worldwide. She came of age as an artist during a transitional moment in Brazilian art following the collapse of the military dictatorship. The ‘Geração Oitenta' (the Eighties Generation) in Brazil proclaimed a return to painting, vivid imagery and lush colour. Milhazes absorbed herself in this new tradition, drawing from the rich, tropical landscape of her native surroundings to produce vibrantly coloured paintings, collages and prints. The layered surfaces on her paintings are a result of her unique working process. Each motif is painted first on to a translucent plastic sheet, built up with layer upon layer of acrylic paint. When dry, the motif is peeled off the plastic sheet and fixed to the canvas. Her methods of layering, transferring, and overlapping turn surface into a shifting terrain–both energetic and material. Early twentieth century European modernism plays a significant role in the artist's formal references. Milhazes cites three artists as the ‘centre of her interest': Matisse, Mondrian and Tarsila do Amaral. This unification of Western and Latin American influences inspired an entirely unique formal exploration.

Beatriz Milhazes represented Brazil at the 2003 Biennale di Venezia. Solo exhibitions of her work have been presented at Perez Museum of Art in Miami, Paco Imperiale in Rio de Janeiro, MALBA-Fundacion Costantini in Buenos Aires, Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Foundation Cartier in Paris, and the Pinacoteca do Estacao in São Paulo.

Courtesy of


Stephen Friedman Gallery