André Ricardo opens Messenger of the Morning, his first exhibition at Almeida & Dale, Fradique Coutinho, 1360.

Developed over the course of nearly two years, the exhibition brings together nine tempera paintings and, for the first time in the artist’s career, a group of monotypes. The selection reflects an entirely new moment in André Ricardo’s practice, marked by a renewal of his painting, the incorporation of new techniques, and his recent representation by Almeida & Dale.

Presented in a critical essay by Renato Menezes, curator at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, the works now feature more fluid forms, traces that reveal the centrality of drawing to their making, and a new approach to the construction of the paintings. Alongside these technical and procedural developments, André Ricardo has also introduced new forms and figures into his work, inspired by diverse Brazilian cultural traditions, as well as by the landscape and light of Ilha do Ferro, Alagoas, which the artist recently visited.

Messenger of the Morning, the exhibition’s title, borrowed from one of the paintings that greets visitors upon entering the gallery, also carries a promise of renewal: “Without giving too much away, I can say that this new body of work began with this painting. It serves as a key to the place visitors will be led into as they enter the exhibition space. The word ‘morning’ embodies the idea of a light that is born and reborn every day, recreating life and marking the passage of time. This movement can hold multiple meanings: we may associate it with light in painting, its perpetual immanence, but I also like to think of morning as a metaphorical image of the creative act,” André Ricardo concludes.

Messenger of the Morning remains on view through September 19 at Almeida & Dale’s exhibition space at 1360 Fradique Coutinho Street.