LONDON.- Cecilia Brunson Projects and Galeria Millan bring Paulo Pasta’s work to London and the UK for the first time for an extensive exhibition of his paintings, curated by Gabriel Pérez- Barreiro - curator of the 33rd São Paulo Bienal.
This substantial exhibition of Paulo Pasta’s paintings brings together both abstract and landscape works on canvas, wood and paper. Ranging from large to small scale, all of the works share a concern for colour, space, memory and the passing of time. For Pasta, these two (visually) distinct painterly styles work in harmony with one another. They are two sides of the same coin. His abstract works retain recognisable formal traits and architectural shapes; his figurative, landscape works have a sense of ambiguity and obscurity. Abstract or figurative, Pasta’s paintings are all characterised by their tonal nuances.
Paulo Pasta is widely regarded as one of Brazil’s most prolific and accomplished contemporary painters. Over a nearly four-decade-long career, he has committed himself wholeheartedly to the medium of painting. Traversing figuration and abstraction, Pasta has consistently demonstrated his mastery of colour and form on the two-dimensional plane.
He is spoken of in Brazil as an artist’s artist. His name will often surface in conversation when speaking to a wide range of current Brazilian painters. They will typically reference him as a mentor, a teacher, or a foundational influence on their generation. Many speak of him as the torchbearer of the country’s strong tradition of artistic pedagogy - a particularly Brazilian expectation that knowledge, technique, and thinking should be passed from one artist to another.
Having previously introduced the likes of Alfredo Volpi, Willys de Castro, Katie van Scherpenberg and Feliciano Centurión to UK audiences for the first time - the gallery is excited to add Paulo to that list. This show precedes an exhibition of his work in New York City where he has recently been taken on by David Nolan Gallery. The increased attention being paid to Pasta’s work is highly merited and the gallery is extremely excited to be introducing his work to new audiences.
“When looking at a sequence of Pasta’s abstract paintings, the echoes between the formal architecture of the works serve to heighten the chromatic differences between them. Each is entirely unique in its emotional temperature. A universe of relationships.” says Gabriel Pérez- Barreiro in an essay titled, ‘Paulo Pasta: Between Landscape and Abstraction’ (Paulo Pasta, Cecilia Brunson Projects, London, 2022). The gallery will be producing the first publication on the artist in English, the book will feature text by Pérez-Barreiro and become the go-to resource on the artist for English-speaking audiences.
