VARDA CAIVANO

Early life and Education of Varda Caivano

Varda Caivano was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1971. She studied biology and art history at the University of Buenos Aires before moving to the United Kingdom in the early 2000s.

In London, Caivano completed a graduate diploma in fine art at Goldsmiths University, followed by an MA at the Royal College of Art in 2004. She went on to become a faculty lecturer in painting at the Royal College of Art and served as an artist supervisor on the independent studio programme at De Ateliers in Amsterdam.

Varda Caivano Artworks and Style

Varda Caivano’s paintings are small-scale, process-led abstractions built up through multiple layers of colour, line, and brushstroke, creating surfaces that convey both depth and the passage of time.

Early works and developments, 2000s

Caivano’s early paintings, shown at venues such as Victoria Miro in 2005 and Chisenhale Gallery, London, in 2007, established her commitment to a restrained form of abstraction. Working in oil on canvas and on paper, she developed a practice rooted in observation and experimentation, balancing materiality with emotional and figurative resonance. Her inclusion in New Contemporaries at Camden Arts Centre in 2001 marked an early institutional milestone.

Mature practice and key series, 2010s

Through the 2010s, Caivano’s practice deepened as she explored the tension between the physical surface of painting and its capacity for illusion. Solo exhibitions at Victoria Miro, London (2011 and 2015), and the major institutional survey The Density of the Actions at the Renaissance Society, Chicago (2015), confirmed her standing as a significant voice in abstract painting. She participated in Massimiliano Gioni’s The Encyclopedic Palace at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013 and the Gwangju Biennale in 2012.

Ongoing themes and projects, 2020s–

In the 2020s, Caivano’s paintings have expanded to engage with ideas of nocturnal light and musicality, as seen in her Moonlight Paintings exhibition at Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2022), and Luz de Luna (Moonlight) at Labor, Mexico City (2024). Her inaugural New York solo, Nocturnal Music, took place at Mendes Wood DM, New York, in 2025. Her insistence on leaving works untitled underlines a process-led approach, allowing each painting to communicate on its own terms.

Awards and honours of Varda Caivano

• 2011 – Abbey Award, British School at Rome
• 2008 – Jerwood Contemporary Painters selection, Jerwood Space, London
• 2001 – New Contemporaries selection, Camden Arts Centre, London

Exhibitions of Varda Caivano

Varda Caivano has exhibited widely at institutions, biennales, and contemporary art galleries across Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

Select solo exhibitions

• 2025 – Nocturnal Music, Mendes Wood DM, New York
• 2024 – Luz de Luna (Moonlight), Labor, Mexico City
• 2022 – Moonlight Paintings, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels
• 2022 – En México, Lulu by X Museum, Mexico City
• 2015 – The Density of the Actions, The Renaissance Society, University of Chicago
• 2015 – Varda Caivano, Victoria Miro, London
• 2007 – Varda Caivano, Chisenhale Gallery, London
• 2006 – Varda Caivano, Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany

Select group exhibitions

• 2025 – Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas
• 2024 – Accordion Fields, Lisson Gallery, London
• 2020 – No Horizon, No Edge to Liquid, Zabludowicz Collection, London
• 2019 – Slow Painting, Hayward Gallery Touring, Leeds and UK tour
• 2013 – The Encyclopedic Palace, 55th Venice Biennale
• 2012 – Gwangju Biennale, South Korea
• 2010 – British Art Show 7: In the Days of the Comet, Nottingham, Hayward Gallery, Glasgow, Plymouth

Collections

Varda Caivano’s work is held in the following public collections:

• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (acquired 2025)
• British Council Collection
• The National Museum of Art, Osaka
• The Taguchi Art Collection
• Zabludowicz Collection

Varda Caivano FAQs

Ocula | 2026