"Jean-Paul Russell and I, since 1996 to date, have embarked on one of the most ambitious experiments in screenprinting.
I drew a large arabesque which he cut out and exposed onto a screen. We laid down some solid color backgrounds on seven sheets of paper and we printed the arabesque on each sheet. I treated each piece of paper as a separate artwork, sharing elements, sometimes color, but varying placement, transparency and opacity. I hand-painted and cut individual elements as each print progressed. "Cabeça de Mulher" followed by "O Pato" and "Uva Selvagem" were a result of that intense ten-day, remarkable, and unforgettable first collaboration with Jean-Paul Russell at Durham Press.
"O Espelho" and "O Sabado" began with a more organized approach. The prints were a sort of punctuation mark dividing what came before, and what was to come after." – Beatriz Milhazes
Born and raised in Rio, Beatriz Milhazes's practice includes painting, printing and collage. With vibrant color, optical movement and energetic visual cadences, her abstract work fuses a diverse repertoire of images and forms, combining elements from her native Brazilian culture with European abstraction. As a painter, Milhazes uses a unique transfer technique, first painting on plastic sheets before peeling away the dried shapes and collaging them onto the canvas, which results in an image that 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. Milhazes is at the center of the 80’s Generation— a period of the Brazilian art characterized by the return of young artists to paint.
Living and working in Rio, Milhazes' works reside in numerous permanent institutional collections in addition to her many solo exhibitions including White Cube Gallery, London (2018); PAAM - Perez Art Museum Miami (2014-15); Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro (2013); MALBA, Fundacion Costantini, Buenos Aires (2012); Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2010); and Fondation Cartier pour l' art Contemporain, Paris (2009) and has also participated at Shangai Biennial (2006); Venice Biennale (2003); São Paulo Biennial (1998, 2004); among others.
Regional Director Candida Sodre sat down with the Rio de Jaineiro-based artist to discuss the artist’s multidisciplinary practice and her upcoming exhibitions
Beatriz Milhazes is best known for her vibrantly colored yet calculated compositions. The artist has cited Baroque architecture, lace work, Carnival decoration and the flora of the Jardim Botanico in Rio de Janiero chief among her inspirations. Milhazes' artistic practice is akin to monotype or collage in that the artist first paints motifs directly onto transparent plastic sheets and later applies them to the canvas, leaving the plastic to dry. The superimposed image allows for overlapping and layering, resulting in a textured canvas and a distorted central focal point. While seemingly chaotic, Milhazes' compositions are perfectly balanced due to the artist's technically sophisticated use of geometric forms and chromatic color palate.
1996 Screenprint in colors, on Somerset Velvet paper, the full sheet. S. 39 3/4 x 59 1/2 in. (101 x 151.1 cm) Signed, dated and numbered 27/28 in pencil on the reverse (there were also 4 artist's proofs), published by Durham Press, Durham, Pennsylvania (with their blindstamp), framed.