September 26 – December 20
Solange Pessoa articulates affinities between and among materials through their relationships to corporeality. Developed through an intense engagement with various clays and the earth itself, Solange’s Domingas (2023) sculptures are abstract, bulbous forms that, for the artist, embody Dionysian energies. Untitled (2023), from her Solarengas (meaning solar or sunny) series, is an impressively scaled, red clay on canvas painting that was included in her exhibition, Earthworks (2023). To create these paintings, Solange developed a visual lexicon inspired by the flora of the region, rendered onto the surface of raw canvas with natural pigments, clay, and other organic materials. Through the usage of primordial materials, a continuous dialogue emerges between the haptic, tactile surfaces of this earthen painting and squeezed clay forms.
Co-presented by the Toronto Biennial of Art and the Art Museum at the University of Toronto and made possible with the generous support of Mendes Wood DM and the Women Leading Initiative.
Bio
Bio
Solange Pessoa
Beyond the clear references to organic life or prehistoric artistic experimentations, what stands out in Solange Pessoa’s (b. 1961, Ferros, Brazil) work is a singular, pulsating vitality, which manifests itself in peculiar contours that create figures in which we recognize the primordial movement of genesis. Pessoa’s expansive practice draws inspiration from a plethora of sources: archaeology, prehistoric cave paintings, traditional craft, Brazilian Baroque, and poetry. Her stylization of life assumes a radical depth, offering a particular language for reading and imagining the world. Thus, we see species that carry traits from mineral, botanical, and animal realms and convey universality through their most regional aspects.
Pessoa studied at Escola Guignard/UEMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (1981 – 1986), where she later taught Sculpture (1993 – 2016). Her selected solo institutional exhibitions include Del día o la noche, Centro Botín, Santander (2026); Outras escalas – Desenhos, vídeos, instalações, Itaú Cultural, São Paulo (2026); Catch the Sun with Your Hand, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen (2025); Pilgrim Fields, Tramway, Glasgow (2025); Solange Pessoa, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz (2023); Longilonge, Ballroom Marfa, Marfa (2019); Metaflor-Metaflora, Museu Mineiro, Belo Horizonte (2013); Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte (2008); Museu da Inconfidência, Ouro Preto (2000); Palácio das Artes, Belo Horizonte (1995); and Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo (1992).
The artist has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Brazil and abroad, including Arts of the Earth, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao (2025); More than Human, Design Museum, London (2025 – 2026) and Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Zurich (2026); Art Science, Singapore (2027); ERASURE, Goodwood Art Foundation, Chichester (2025); Exposition Générale, Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris (2025); Collector #3, Jardin Botanique de Bordeaux, Bordeaux and La Petite Escalère, Saint-Laurent-Médoc (2025); Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles, Barbican Centre, London (2024) and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam (2025); Triennale Milano, Milan (2024); The Milk of Dreams, 59th Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2022); Reclaim the Earth, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2022); Living Worlds, Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Lille (2022); Elementos Vitais: Ana Mendieta in Oaxaca, La Clínica, Oaxaca (2021); This Morning, in the Sweet Torpor of the Great Forest, is Like Every Morning in the World, SALT, Renens (2020); Invenção de Origem, Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo (2018); La Fin de Babylone – Mich Wunder, dass ich so Fröhlich bin, Köln Skulptur #9, Cologne (2017); New Shamans (2016), High Anxiety (2016), and No Man’s Land: Women Artists (2015), Rubell Family Collection, Miami; Arte e Patrimônio, Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro (2014); Arqueologia das Terras Altas, 4th Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre (2003); and Mostra do Redescobrimento, CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux (2001).
Pessoa lives and works in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Photo by Miro Kuzmanovic.
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