Adriana Varejao

Lehmann Maupin would like to announce an exhibition of new work by Adriana Varejão. This is Varejão's second solo exhibition at Lehmann Maupin.

In this exhibition, Varejão presents a new series of paintings entitled Saunas,as well as new floor- and wall-based sculptural works, including four works from the Jerked-beef ruin series and the monumental three-dimensional painting Folds. In the Sauna paintings Varejão uses precise geometry and a perfect control of light and shade to represent simple, contemporary tiled interiors. Fine color gradations enliven the apparent chromatic uniformity of these paintings. In the sculptural work, the organized grid of the tiled surfaces contrast with chaotic and fleshy interiors. For instance, in Folds the ordered beauty of the tiles has been intersected with incisions to reveal a flesh-like interior pouring out of the painting. In these works, Varejão gives abstraction a human physicality. By contrasting the cold, geometric grid of the tiles with the figurative representation of meaty flesh, Varejão not only creates a tension between painting and sculpture, but also enhances the power and beauty of these two extremes.

Born in 1964 in Rio de Janeiro, where she lives and works, Adriana Varejão is one of Brazil's leading contemporary artists. Her work was recently shown in as in the Brazil: Body and Soul exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York as well as in the MoMAQNS exhibition Tempo, where she filled an entire room with the wall-based installation, Azulejões (Big Blue Tiles). Varejão has exhibited widely internationally, including the Biennale of Sydney, the Venice Biennale, and the São Paolo Biennial as well as solo exhibitions at Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden and the Instituto de Arte Contemporanea, Lisbon. Her work is in the collection of the Tate, London and the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, among others.

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Adriana Varejao