Mil Manhãs
Luis Sandes
Gabriela Giroletti’s solo exhibition at Galeria Leme, Mil Manhãs, presents both small and large works that explore the possibilities of painting in terms of poetry, technique, and concept. Her work reflects a deep appreciation for nature and its lyrical potential.
The title of the exhibition stems from one of her pieces. Whether it signifies the accumulation of mornings in a single day, creating an extraordinary event, or a succession of mornings, opening infinite possibilities, remains unclear. Much of the artist’s work invites the viewer to navigate the doors of understanding it opens.
Her production floats between being figurative and abstract. In her paintings, one can see references to scenes of nature or perceive shapes, constructions, colours, and gestures that exist solely in the realm of artistic exploration. An example of this is Meridian. If meridians are lines that divide the Earth from North to South, this work does not represent that concept in a literal or objective way. Whether this and other works are perceived as figurative or abstract — or both — is up to each visitor to decide.
The titles of her works are often abstract or refer to occurrences in nature, although not always in a literal sense. Examples include Ano Bissexto [Leap Year], Paisagem Porosa [Porous Landscape], Floating on a Moment, O Inchaço do Mar [The Swelling of the Sea], and the eponymous Mil Manhãs [A Thousand Mornings]. These titles are lyrical expressions rather than factual descriptions of what appears on the canvases; perhaps they are visual representations of these expressions in Portuguese or English.
Other tensions are also explored: simple/complex, micro/macro, still life/landscape, painting/sculpture, accident/decision, graphic/free, control/chaos. Gabriela doesn’t choose one element of each pair but rather oscillates between them, embracing a visual plurality. For instance, one work may be both simple and complex at the same time.
This is the artist’s first solo exhibition in Brazil. If what you find is a maturity and complexity in her works, it stems from her extensive experience abroad. Gabriela has participated in numerous group shows, mainly in the UK and France, but also in Malaysia and South Korea. She has held solo exhibitions in the UK, France, and the United States.
Living in London since 2010, Gabriela became an artist there, completing a master’s degree at the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, after her undergraduate studies at Middlesex University, also in London. This background gives her work a strong technical and conceptual foundation.
Gabriela describes her practice as being “about the process, about the moment of painting.” Her work is grounded in colour, form, line, light, and composition, all of which converge in each piece. She explores painting’s possibilities in both its materials and visual language. Therefore, the canvas becomes an object, with texture, volume, body, and physical structure, but also presents a flat image — another duality.
Facing the limitations and specificities of painting, she invents new paths for expression. An example is her unconventional canvas shapes (beyond squares or rectangles) and how her work extends beyond the canvas borders, pushing its limits.
Due to the differences in scale across her works, it is not possible, nor would it be feasible, to use the same solutions. However, her use of brushstrokes, colours, and forms is complementary, not dissonant.
Primarily working with oil paint, but also using acrylic and gels, the artist builds transparency and light onto volume. Since both the materials and many of the depicted images derive from nature, a cycle is completed — as the works refer back to nature, as two sides of the same coin. Gabriela treats colour as illusion, as material, and as substance.
Her paintings can be viewed as colourful, abstract, and organic; but they can be seen as references to experience, decision, and time. Either way, they are broad and universal, with no need for additional history or narrative beyond what is presented on the canvas. Gabriela connects painting not only with the observable and experienced natural world but also with our inner nature. In this way, her work becomes a grand metaphor for life, full of decisions, accidents, and risks. A life brimming with transformations and optimism.
In this sense, Gabriela Giroletti’s work is a visual poem. Its meanings are completed by those who view it. Like any poem, her paintings do not offer definitive propositions. As the poet Mario Quintana once said, a good poem doesn’t explain everything it means. Similarly, painting doesn’t either. Using painting as a medium for expression, communication, and exploration of personal experiences, Gabriela offers poems that will be individually interpreted by each viewer, who will write their own verses in response.
