In his fourth solo show at Galeria Leme, Mauro Piva presents a new body of paintings in watercolor, gouache and acrylic, in which he continues his research in the Still-life genre, based on a dialogue with works by renowned artists. Opening on July 23, 2022 the exhibition mains on view until September 10, 2022.
The works of this show are a development of the Still-life research that the artist started in 2020. Based on the selection of works and portraits of renowned artists, Piva emphasizes natural elements previously considered secondary in the compositions.
In this set of works, the artist maintains the same scale as Caravaggio’s original paintings, but gives the role of protagonists to fruits, flowers, and leaves, by isolating these elements on a white and bright background. When removing any representation of the background and main characters, Piva subtracts the tenebrism attached to the works of the Italian painter with the aim to bring lightness to the composition.
“I was inspired to work with Caravaggio’s paintings, because when I keep only the natural elements by removing the human figure and the dark background, I am removing a heavy, dramatic, and charged atmosphere. I think it is everyone’s wish to have lighter moments”, points out the artist.
View of the exhibition Mauro Piva, 2022.
About the artist
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1977. Lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil.
Piva had the solo shows: Mauro Piva, Galeria Leme, São Paulo, Brazil (2018); Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil (2017); Galeria Leme, São Paulo, Brazil (2016); XIX Festival da Cultura Inglesa, Centro Cultural Britânico, São Paulo, Brazil; Galería Enrique Guerrero, Cidade do México, Mexico (2014); Galería El Museo, Bogotá, Colombia (2013), among others. And the group shows: Espelho Labirinto (curated by Vicente de Mello and Aldones Nino), CCBB- Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil (2022); Just Breathe… (curated by Felipe Hegg), The55Project, USA (2021); Lineas en el Espacio, Museo de la Cancillería, Cidade do México, Mexico (2019), among others. His works are part of the collections: Art at Swiss Re, Zurique, Suíça, MAR – Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo – MAM, São Paulo, Brazil; Art Center Hugo Voeten, Herentals, Belgium; JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, USA; Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art, Michigan, USA and Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
