Art Basel OVR Highlights: Adriana Varejão

Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel showed this work by Adriana Varejão at Art Basel OVR20:c—a highlight from the fair for us.

Varejão has been one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful Brazilian artists over the last 25 years.

Her work unpicks the layers of colonialism and diverse cultural histories making up her native Brazil. Fragments from different times and places are assembled and recontextualised within the framework of Varejão’s painting. This early canvas from 1993 is ruptured with flesh wounds, revealing a morbid violence simmering beneath the surface of the remnants of colonialism.

Varejão provides us with text from ancient maps detailing different oceans alongside beautiful variations of painted waves. Pieces of broken porcelain in an array of colours and patterns are strewn across the canvas, interconnected by delicate threads of material.

This intricate web alludes to the fragility of our cultural histories, whilst also questioning the stability and authenticity of a globalised society. Varejão uses pieces of Brazilian culture as props to construct beautifully poetic and, at times, visceral images that reflect contemporary life.

Main image: Adriana Varejão, Linha Equinocial (1993). Mixed media. 220 x 160 cm. © Adriana Varejão. Courtesy Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel.