On view at Pace Gallery through April 24 is the premiere New York solo exhibition of the Brazilian artist Marina Perez Simão, “Tudo é e não é.” Translating to “Everything is and is not” in reference to words by the novelist João Guimarães Rosa, Simão’s new paintings explore the ambiguous nature of life and the idea of abstraction through a lens of hope that suggests infinite possibility.
Marina Perez Simão, “Untitled,” 2021, oil on canvas, 78-5/8 × 97 inches; © Marina Perez Simão, courtesy of the artist, Mendes Wood DM, and Pace Gallery.
Simão’s practice calls upon her own memories, as well as music and literary references as a means through which she examines nature as a force to be reckoned with. Drawing from her life in Brazilian cities like Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, Simão’s visual oeuvre incorporates vitalizing colors and visible brushstrokes to create imagery suggestive of these locales, while maintaining a level of ambiguity that leaves space for the viewer’s imagination to join the experience.
“I try to play around and subvert the elements of the landscape, maybe as an attempt to go somewhere that I’ve never been before, but at the same time that is familiar,” said the artist in a statement.
Marina Perez Simão’s studio, courtesy of the artist.
Demonstrating Simão’s creative evolution from the last year spent in isolation, the works included in “Tudo é e não é” also pay homage to the artist’s cultural influences—in particular Jean-Antoine Watteau’s treatment of the canvas as a stage, which the artist has incorporated into her own works. Viewers at Pace will find paintings like an untitled work where the ocean’s waves act as a frame through which a horizon can be spotted, or a scene with swells of purple and yellow in the forefront of a moody scene evocative of a sunset over mountains.
Marina Perez Simão, “Untitled,” 2021, oil on canvas, 16 × 19-3/4 inches; © Marina Perez Simão, courtesy of the artist, Mendes Wood DM, and Pace Gallery.
