Brazilian women artists revitalize figurative painting
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Five Brazilian women. Panmela Castro, Agrade Camíz, Márcia Falcão, Maya Weishof, and Gokula Stoffel, are leading a renewed interest in figurative painting in Brazil.
For years, Brazilian art institutions focused on early modernist and mid-century abstract painting, showcasing artists like Tarsila do Amaral and Lygia Clark. However, a new generation is bringing fresh energy to the medium.
This return to painting follows a previous shift in the 1980s when artists moved away from strict geometric abstraction, though abstraction continued to influence painting through experimentation with materials. Contemporary Brazilian women artists are now openly addressing themes of eroticism, the female body, and violence against women in their work. Panmela Castro’s 2021 to 22 exhibition in São Paulo, titled “To Flaunt is to be alive,” explored the idea of affirming resilience through the candid portrayal of the body.
Castro often depicts her subjects twice in her paintings, suggesting a lack of historical representation for Black-Brazilian communities and the political implications of visibility. Her work also incorporates text, such as neon signs declaring “Cada Día Peor” (Worse Every Day) and sculptures stating “Eu Sobrevivi” (I survived), reflecting themes of psychological and physical pain and the power of commemoration.
