Adriana Varejão: Polvo
Adriana Varejão: Polvo
A new body of work by the artist, in her fourth solo presentation at the gallery. One of the most original voices in contemporary Brazilian art, Varejão's diverse practice comprises painting, sculpture, photography and installation. Her sources are many, encompassing baroque art, history, architectural ruins, natural sciences and theatre.
Varejão has long been fascinated by themes of miscegenation and skin colour, and she explores these subjects in a fresh way in this new body of work. Polvo addresses the ambivalent notion of interracial identity in Brazil, where historically race has assumed a social and cultural function.
The official Brazilian census categorises people into five different groups according to their skin colour: white, black, red, yellow and brown. In 1976, however, a household survey conducted by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) posed the open question 'What is your colour?' The result was 135 distinct terms whose meanings are far more figurative than literal.
For Polvo, Varejão has created her own oil paints, named after thirty-three definitions of skin colour taken from the 1976 survey. The artist selected some of the more exotic and poetic terms, including Fogoió (Fox on Fire Red), Enxofrada (Angry Sulphur), Café com Leite (Milky Coffee), Branquinha (Snow White), Burro-quando-foge (Faded Fawn), Cor Firme (Steady Colour), Morenão (Big Black Dude), Encerada (Buffed) and Queimada de Sol (Sun Kissed).
Varejão also presents an installation of eleven self-portraits painted in an academic style using these paints. The skin tones in the paintings range in various shades from dark to light.
The artist has created a brand Polvo (Octopus) and a logo for the paints featuring an octopus, a creature famous for using its ink in defense. Octopus ink contains melanin, the same substance that gives colour to human hair and skin.
The artist's initial inspiration for these works comes from casta painting, a seventeenth- and eighteenth-century genre characteristic of New Spain and particularly prevalent in colonial Mexico. In the post-Conquest period, casta paintings sought to document the varieties of interracial mixing in the New World in an attempt to classify and frame racial diversity and hybridity through a complex casta system.
The casta system developed by colonial Spaniards helped establish and perpetuate a rigid hierarchical taxonomy based on notions of purity associated with whiteness. The concept was derived from the Latin castus, which literally means 'keep pure'. Using more than one hundred categories of racial intermixing, the casta system classified a broad spectrum of combinations of white, black, Indian and mixed-race heritage. Those considered 'pure bred' were recognised as part of the nobility and held greater economic and social power. Even at this early stage in Latin American history, those of black and mixed-race heritage occupied less privileged positions.
With Polvo Varejão emphasises how colour acts as a language and lexicon. These works allow us to rethink our own systems of chromatic classification and the social processes that are expressed through them.
Selected Images
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Exhibition
Posted
March 26 2022
Adriana Varejão: Sutures, Fissures, Ruins at Pinacoteca de São Paulo
This retrospective (26 March–1 August 2022) is one of the most comprehensive exhibitions ever held of Varejão’s work, bringing together for the first time a significant group of more than 60 works produced from 1985 to 2022. Pinacoteca de São Paulo -
Exhibition
Posted
January 19 2020
Now open – An Exhibition of Works by… featuring Adriana Varejão at Witte de With, Rotterdam
Taking blue and white ceramics as a starting point, this exhibition (19 January–19 July 2020) of international artists explores the migration of form. A conversation with the artist takes place on Saturday 25 January 2020. Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam -
Exhibition
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November 29 2019
Interiorities, featuring Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Adriana Varejão, at Haus der Kunst, Munich
The exhibition (29 November 2019–29 March 2020) focuses on interior of the imagination, as well as with the interior as a real setting, as a private retreat or shelter, or as a space with the potential to reflect and change the social and political zeitgeist. Haus der Kunst, Munich -
Exhibition
Posted
August 20 2019
Adriana Varejão: Otros cuerpos detrás at Museo Tamayo
A monographic exhibition (24 August–10 November 2019) exploring the lines of research that the Brazilian artist has developed in her artistic practice since the 1990s. Museo Tamayo, Mexico City -
Exhibition
Posted
June 28 2019
Adriana Varejão: Por uma retórica canibal at MAMAM, Recife, Brazil
Curated by Luisa Duarte, this major exhibition (28 June–8 September 2019) features works created from the early 1990s to present. Recife, Brazil -
Exhibition
Posted
April 17 2019
Adriana Varejão: Por uma retórica canibal at the Museum of Modern Art, Salvador
Curated by Luisa Duarte, this major exhibition (17 April–15 June 2019) features works created from the early 1990s to present, with an emphasis on the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil's rich cultural history, and its many references in the artist's work. Salvador, Bahia, Brazil -
Exhibition
Posted
December 8 2016
Adriana Varejão featured in the Whitechapel Gallery's Terrains of the Body: Photography from the National Museum of Women in the Arts
Drawn from the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, U.S.), this collection display (18 January - 16 April 2017) showcases photography and video work by seventeen contemporary artists from around the world. Whitechapel Gallery, London -
Commission
Posted
August 6 2016
Adriana Varejão's Olympic Aquatic Stadium commission for Rio 2016 is unveiled
The Brazilian artist has created a new commission for the exterior of the Olympic Aquatic Stadium for Rio 2016, which will be on view during the Olympic and Paralympic games (6-20 August and 8-17 September 2016). Olympic Aquatic Stadium, Rio de Janiero -
Exhibition
Posted
July 2 2016
Adriana Varejão in The Great Animal Orchestra at Fondation Cartier
Inspired by the work of American musician and bioacoustician Bernie Krause, this exhibition (until 8 January 2017) at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, which brings together artists from all over the world, invites its audience to immerse themselves in an aesthetic meditation, both aural and visual, on an animal kingdom that is increasingly under threat. Featuring Passarinhos, a new outdoor installation by Adriana Varejão. Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris -
Gallery Exhibition
6 June - 2 August 2014
Adriana Varejão: Carnivorous
The artist's fifth solo presentation with Victoria Miro and her first in the Mayfair gallery. One of the most original voices in contemporary Brazilian art, Varejão's diverse practice comprises painting,... Victoria Miro Mayfair -
Publications
October 16 2013
Adriana Varejão: Polvo
Adriana Varejão: PolvoNot currently available£ 25.000 in cart -
Gallery Exhibition
7 September - 1 October 2011
Adriana Varejão
Victoria Miro is delighted to present a new body of work by Adriana Varejão in her third solo presentation at the gallery and her first show in London since 2004.... Victoria Miro Gallery II -
Gallery Exhibition
14 September - 9 October 2004
Adriana Varejão: Saunas
In the Sauna paintings, Varejão explores questions inherent to painting and geometry, with a sensitive use of light and shade to represent simple, contemporary tiled interiors that the artist describes... Victoria Miro Gallery I -
Gallery Exhibition
30 January - 28 March 2002
Adriana Varejão
Adriana Varejão fills the Lower Gallery with a monumental wall based installation, Macau Wall, while the Upper Gallery houses new individual floor and wall based work. The fine colour gradations... Victoria Miro Gallery I
-
Exhibition
Posted
March 26 2022
Adriana Varejão: Sutures, Fissures, Ruins at Pinacoteca de São Paulo
This retrospective (26 March–1 August 2022) is one of the most comprehensive exhibitions ever held of Varejão’s work, bringing together for the first time a significant group of more than 60 works produced from 1985 to 2022. Pinacoteca de São Paulo -
Exhibition
Posted
January 19 2020
Now open – An Exhibition of Works by… featuring Adriana Varejão at Witte de With, Rotterdam
Taking blue and white ceramics as a starting point, this exhibition (19 January–19 July 2020) of international artists explores the migration of form. A conversation with the artist takes place on Saturday 25 January 2020. Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam -
Exhibition
Posted
November 29 2019
Interiorities, featuring Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Adriana Varejão, at Haus der Kunst, Munich
The exhibition (29 November 2019–29 March 2020) focuses on interior of the imagination, as well as with the interior as a real setting, as a private retreat or shelter, or as a space with the potential to reflect and change the social and political zeitgeist. Haus der Kunst, Munich -
Exhibition
Posted
August 20 2019
Adriana Varejão: Otros cuerpos detrás at Museo Tamayo
A monographic exhibition (24 August–10 November 2019) exploring the lines of research that the Brazilian artist has developed in her artistic practice since the 1990s. Museo Tamayo, Mexico City -
Exhibition
Posted
June 28 2019
Adriana Varejão: Por uma retórica canibal at MAMAM, Recife, Brazil
Curated by Luisa Duarte, this major exhibition (28 June–8 September 2019) features works created from the early 1990s to present. Recife, Brazil -
Exhibition
Posted
April 17 2019
Adriana Varejão: Por uma retórica canibal at the Museum of Modern Art, Salvador
Curated by Luisa Duarte, this major exhibition (17 April–15 June 2019) features works created from the early 1990s to present, with an emphasis on the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil's rich cultural history, and its many references in the artist's work. Salvador, Bahia, Brazil -
Exhibition
Posted
December 8 2016
Adriana Varejão featured in the Whitechapel Gallery's Terrains of the Body: Photography from the National Museum of Women in the Arts
Drawn from the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, U.S.), this collection display (18 January - 16 April 2017) showcases photography and video work by seventeen contemporary artists from around the world. Whitechapel Gallery, London -
Commission
Posted
August 6 2016
Adriana Varejão's Olympic Aquatic Stadium commission for Rio 2016 is unveiled
The Brazilian artist has created a new commission for the exterior of the Olympic Aquatic Stadium for Rio 2016, which will be on view during the Olympic and Paralympic games (6-20 August and 8-17 September 2016). Olympic Aquatic Stadium, Rio de Janiero -
Exhibition
Posted
July 2 2016
Adriana Varejão in The Great Animal Orchestra at Fondation Cartier
Inspired by the work of American musician and bioacoustician Bernie Krause, this exhibition (until 8 January 2017) at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, which brings together artists from all over the world, invites its audience to immerse themselves in an aesthetic meditation, both aural and visual, on an animal kingdom that is increasingly under threat. Featuring Passarinhos, a new outdoor installation by Adriana Varejão. Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris -
Gallery Exhibition
6 June - 2 August 2014
Adriana Varejão: Carnivorous
The artist's fifth solo presentation with Victoria Miro and her first in the Mayfair gallery. One of the most original voices in contemporary Brazilian art, Varejão's diverse practice comprises painting,... Victoria Miro Mayfair -
Publications
October 16 2013
Adriana Varejão: Polvo
Adriana Varejão: PolvoNot currently available£ 25.000 in cart -
Gallery Exhibition
7 September - 1 October 2011
Adriana Varejão
Victoria Miro is delighted to present a new body of work by Adriana Varejão in her third solo presentation at the gallery and her first show in London since 2004.... Victoria Miro Gallery II -
Gallery Exhibition
14 September - 9 October 2004
Adriana Varejão: Saunas
In the Sauna paintings, Varejão explores questions inherent to painting and geometry, with a sensitive use of light and shade to represent simple, contemporary tiled interiors that the artist describes... Victoria Miro Gallery I -
Gallery Exhibition
30 January - 28 March 2002
Adriana Varejão
Adriana Varejão fills the Lower Gallery with a monumental wall based installation, Macau Wall, while the Upper Gallery houses new individual floor and wall based work. The fine colour gradations... Victoria Miro Gallery I