Rosana Paulino reclaims Brazilian history through art
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Rosana Paulino, an artist and the first Afro-Brazilian woman to earn a PhD in visual arts in Brazil, examines Brazil’s colonial past in her exhibition ¿História Natural? at the New School’s Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries.
Paulino creates work that responds to historical images made by European naturalists during expeditions to Brazil in the 19th century.
She uses these images, alongside her own linocuts and drawings, to challenge how Brazil has been represented and understood, both within the country and abroad. Paulino deliberately works with the format of the illustrated naturalist album favored by European explorers, a method she sees as central to how Brazil was initially perceived. She critiques the fact that Brazil often adopted these foreign-made images without critical examination, including their depictions of Black people during slavery.
Her 2016 artist’s book, ¿História Natural? which earned her the 2025 to 27 Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice and a $25,000 award, serves as a key example of her approach. The artist approaches her work with meticulousness, seeing precision as a sign of respect. She even destroys drawings that don’t meet her standards, though her studio assistants now preserve these discarded pieces for her archive.
Paulino presented drawings with the same name as her book at the 2024 Venice Biennale, titled “Comigo ninguém pode” (“No one can beat me”), reflecting her firm stance on Brazil’s history.
