The renowned Portuguese artist Helena Almeida is on display at the Moreira Salles Institute in São Paulo. Titled 'Inhabited photography, anthology by Helena Almeida, 1969-2018', this is the artist's first solo exhibition in Brazil. The exhibition is now open to the public and takes place at IMS Paulista until September 24th.
Helena Almeida: Who is the artist?
Helena Almeida was born in Lisbon in 1934, where she lived until her death in September 2018.
Her journey in art has spanned different formats, from drawing, painting, sculpture and performance. However, it was photography that the artist focused her work. At the end of the 1960s, Helena Almeida began what would mark the rest of her life as an artist, photography, which stood out for its originality and pioneering spirit.
The artist also experimented with the use of painting in her photographs, creating works that marked her career, such as “Pinturas Habitadas” (1975-1977) and “Dento de Mim” (2001).
The artist represented Portugal around the world, twice at the Venice Biennale, in 1982 and in 2005, at the São Paulo Biennale, in 1979 and 2004 at the Sydney Biennale. With this trajectory, Helena Almeida became one of the main Portuguese contemporary artists.
In recent years, her work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions such as the one taking place at the Moreira Salles Institute in São Paulo.
Inhabited photography, anthology by Helena Almeida, 1969-2018
The exhibition Fotografia Habitada, an anthology by Helena Almeida, 1969-2018 will be the renowned Portuguese artist’s first solo exhibition in Brazil. Curated by Isabel Carlos, curator of contemporary art and art historian, the exhibition will present a selection of works based on photography and drawing, created between 1969 and 2018.
The works address recurring themes in Almeida's production, such as the interrogation of genres and artistic processes and the self-representation of artists and women.
In its production, more than an artistic or documentary genre, photography is a conceptual support for the ideas and processes of creation. This subversion of the limits of the definitions of the work of art, in addition to the constant reiteration of her condition as a woman artist, brings Helena Almeida's work up to date, confirming the historical relevance of her role in a generation that opened new paths and processes in ways of thinking and articulate the relationship between art and life.
The exhibition runs until September 24th, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am to 10pm at Instituto Moreira Salles Paulista in São Paulo.