Pippy Houldsworth Gallery is delighted to present a solo booth of new work at Art Basel Hong Kong by young Brazilian artist Ana Prata.
For the fair, Prata has created a series of over 30 portraits documenting an array of different emotions, with each feeling defined by a distinct, metaphorical character. Using the same format for each work, and hanging the works side by side, the artist has employed seriality in order to highlight variations in mood and personality between each of the paintings. Ranging from realistic to abstract, the works will wrap around the booth in close formation like a frieze, encompassing the viewer amidst an eclectic crowd of imagined individuals.
Inspired by the simplicity of primitive drawings and children’s sketches, Prata’s unique and personal use of painting offers a distinct way in which to view our world. Varying in scale and subject, the artist explores different modes of painting by combining geometric shapes, abstract imagery and art historical references. Prata captures the essence of an object or scene by breaking it down into its constituent parts, using a distinct vernacular of simple brushstrokes to form a distilled, often humorous version of the former image. Driven by her imagination, these simple arrangements of abstract marks subsequently trigger greater, mental associations; palm trees are composed of hurried brush marks, a curved line becomes a mountain, and a raised stamp of vermilion paint is used to evoke a blazing sun.
Ana Prata was born in 1980 in Sete Lagoas, Brazil and lives and works in São Paulo. She has had solo exhibitions at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London; Kunsthalle São Paulo; Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo; La Maudite, Paris; Centro Cultural São Paulo (CCSP) and Galeria Millan, São Paulo. She participated in consecutive editions of the International Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil in both 2011 and 2013. Flash Art presented a profile of Ana Prata in January-February 2015. In 2016, Prata completed a six-month RU residency in New York. This year, her work will feature in a group exhibition at MAC, Museu de Arte Contemporânea, São Paulo and at Caixa Cultural Rio de Janeiro.