Adriana Varejão

Key facts

Born

1964, Brazilian^[1]

Works held in

5 museums

Wikipedia

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• What is Adriana Varejão known for?+

  Adriana Varejão is known for her painted azulejo, the blue-and-white ceramic tile synonymous with Portuguese colonial architecture. She uses this medium to create trompe l'oeil tile surfaces, which she then ruptures to reveal anatomical flesh, gore, or layered history.
• What should I know about Adriana Varejão's prints?+

  When considering Adriana Varejão's prints, bear in mind a few aspects of fine-art printmaking. The artist will often decide to limit the edition, marking each print with a fraction, such as 35/100, to indicate its place in the sequence. The lower number is the print's individual number; the higher is the total edition size. Some artists also create artist's proofs, marked "AP", which are outside the numbered edition. It is standard practice for the artist to sign and number their prints in pencil, usually along the bottom margin. The edition claim appears on the left, the title in the centre, and the signature on the right. Printmaking is unregulated, but commercial sales are subject to the Trade Descriptions Act of 1968, requiring truthful descriptions. Claims of edition size add value, so buyers expect accuracy. Photographic prints, like other print media, are vulnerable to factors such as foxing, creasing, and UV degradation. These factors should be considered when collecting.
• What style or movement did Adriana Varejão belong to?+

  It is difficult to assign Adriana Varejão to a single style or movement. However, some art historians link aspects of her work to the baroque. The baroque, which gained prominence in the early 17th century, moved away from the static qualities of Renaissance art. Artists like Rubens employed a dynamic spiral line in their compositions. This technique created a sense of movement, with forms blending into one another. Baroque paintings often feature figures that surge and twist, with draperies that flow, creating a sense of vitality. Rubens's influence extended to other baroque artists, such as Bernini, whose sculptures also embodied this principle of movement. Although French artists initially showed restraint, they later embraced the baroque style, particularly after rediscovering Rubens at the end of the 17th century. While Varejão's art is contemporary, some scholars suggest her work shares an emphasis on flowing movement, a key characteristic of the baroque.
• What techniques or materials did Adriana Varejão use?+

  Technical knowledge informs art history. Artists make important choices that exist outside the constraints of their materials. Understanding the techniques and processes used by artists is essential. It is also essential to understand the relationship between the qualities of medium and technique, and the aesthetic decisions made by the artist. By achieving this understanding, the ways of thinking about, writing about, presenting, and reading art history remain engaged with the work, rather than operating at a distance from it. For example, soft, fine brushes and a fluid oil medium would have been necessary to achieve a smooth, unbroken surface. The smooth, unbroken paint surface suggests that artists used soft hair brushes and tempered their pigments with an easily workable, quite fluid oil medium, possibly thinned with turpentine spirit. It is likely that artists used linseed oil, which dried more quickly than the alternative walnut variety.
• What was Adriana Varejão known for?+

  Adriana Varejão is a Brazilian^[1] artist known for her large-scale paintings and installations. She was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1964^[1]. Varejão's work frequently incorporates ceramic tiles. These tiles allude to Brazil's colonial past, particularly the influence of Portuguese and Asian aesthetics. She often fractures and reassembles these tiles. This creates a sense of disruption and reveals hidden layers beneath the surface. Her art explores themes of cultural hybridity, colonisation, and the body. Varejão examines how different cultures intersect and influence one another, often with a focus on the complex history of Brazil. Her paintings often feature depictions of wounds, flesh, and anatomical imagery. These elements can be interpreted as metaphors for the violence and trauma associated with colonisation and cultural exchange. Varejão has exhibited extensively internationally. Her work is included in major public collections, such as the Tate Modern in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
• Where can I see Adriana Varejão's work?+

  Adriana Varejão's pieces are held in several prominent collections. These include museums in North and South America, as well as Europe. In Brazil, her work can be viewed at the Museu de Arte Moderna in São Paulo and the Instituto Inhotim in Brumadinho. In North America, collections include the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; the San Diego Museum of Art; and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. European museums holding her work include the Tate Modern in London and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. These institutions offer opportunities to view Varejão's diverse output, which includes painting, sculpture, and installation. Her art often explores themes of cultural identity, colonialism, and the body through the use of varied materials and techniques.
• Where was Adriana Varejão from?+

  Adriana Varejão is Brazilian^[1]. One source notes that the artist Tunga was born in 1952 in Palmares, Pernambuco, Brazil. He currently lives in Rio de Janeiro and Paris. Another source mentions that Antonio Dias was born in Paraiba, Brazil, in 1944. Dias has had solo shows at Galeria Sobradinho, Rio de Janeiro, in 1962; Galeria Reievo, Rio de Janeiro, in 1964^[1]; and Galeria Guignard, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 1966. He has also participated in group shows such as Young Brazilian Artists, Museu de Arte Contemporanea, Sao Paulo, in 1965; Brazilian Avantgarde, Universidade de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, in 1966; and Brazilian Contemporary Artists, Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, in 1966.
• Who did Adriana Varejão influence?+

  It is difficult to assess definitively who Adriana Varejão has influenced. However, we can analyse artists who demonstrably influenced her. Varejão's work shows an engagement with artistic traditions and innovations of the past. For example, El Greco considered himself a student of Titian. He was an advocate of the Venetian style. Similarly, Velázquez's early works looked to Caravaggio. After spending time with the royal collections of Madrid, and in Venice, he became intent on creating an updated version of Titian’s painterly naturalism. Rembrandt's thick deposits of textured paint may seem unrelated to the lively surfaces of Titian’s late paintings, but in some instances the connection is close. Titian's legacy, both in terms of his actual works, and in terms of how Vasari wrote about them, is a constant backdrop. These artists, like Varejão, built upon the achievements of their predecessors.
• Who influenced Adriana Varejão?+

  It is difficult to summarise influences on an artist's practice. As Henri Matisse said, the best explanation of a painter's style is found in the paintings themselves. However, some artists and movements that have been identified as important to Varejão's artistic development include: Cubism: Varejão was impressed by Cubist still lifes, particularly those of Braque. She studied Cubism and the work of Picasso, exploring the reasons behind her interest in this style. Cézanne and van Gogh: Through her study of Braque and Picasso, Varejão discovered the works of Cézanne and van Gogh. New York School artists: By 1950-51, Pollock, de Kooning, and Rothko, as well as the entire New York School, had become Varejão's mentors. She saw Gorky's exhibition at the Whitney in 1951, which made a big impression on her. She also saw many of Pollock's paintings from the 1940s. Other artists: Varejão was also moved and intrigued by Louis's Veils and Unfurleds and Noland's targets and chevrons in the later 1950s and early 1960s.
• Who was Adriana Varejão?+

  Adriana Varejão is a contemporary Brazilian^[1] artist whose work engages with themes of cultural hybridity, colonialism, and the body. Born in 1964^[1] in Rio de Janeiro, Varejão came to prominence in the 1990s. Her art often incorporates ceramic tiles, a material strongly associated with Portuguese colonial architecture in Brazil. She frequently fractures and reassembles these tiles, creating works that allude to both the beauty and the violence inherent in Brazil's history. Varejão's pieces often incorporate imagery related to the history of Brazil, including its colonial past and the mixing of cultures. Her works can evoke a sense of unease, prompting viewers to consider the complex and often brutal realities of cultural exchange and the construction of identity. She explores the body, often fragmented or disrupted, as a site of both pleasure and pain.
• Why are Adriana Varejão's works important today?+

  Adriana Varejão's work is significant because it challenges conventional understandings of history, identity, and artistic expression. Her art critically assesses cultural, historical, and social symbols, offering new iconographies that question traditional and nationalistic views. Varejão's approach involves incorporating the past into the present, disrupting continuity and prompting a re-evaluation of established norms. This method isn't about revivalism; instead, it explores systems that remain effective across time. She appropriates dynamic instruments from the past, such as the iconography of religious authority or the sarcasm of Goya, to engage with contemporary issues. Her art also addresses the complexities of Portuguese identity and history, particularly in relation to European cultural and political dynamics. By engaging with historical narratives and cultural traditions, Varejão provides alternative visions that deconstruct propagandistic imagery and challenge established perspectives. This encourages viewers to question moulded perspectives and resist imposed order.
• What was Adriana Varejão's art style?+

  Her work involves rendering tile surfaces in trompe l'oeil detail before rupturing them. This exposes anatomical elements beneath, blending pristine surfaces with visceral interiors.