Maya Weishof presents a new body of work in Room of Masks, her new solo exhibition at Almeida & Dale Fradique 1430. The exhibition is accompanied by a critical text by curator Carlos Quijon, Jr.

Characterized by dense surfaces and by the proliferation of details and references, the paintings in the exhibition emerge from investigations into the history of images and the distinctions between the intimate and social spheres. At the same time, they reflect on the solitary work carried out within the studio in contrast to the artistic persona that emerges at openings and, today, on social media.

In these works, Weishof also explores different technical and material possibilities of painting, ranging from the stitching together of fragments of canvas, through her recognized combinations of brush and oil stick—which lend a drawing-like quality to certain areas of the works—to exercises in a more “traditional” form of painting, particularly in the construction of light and color with oil.

Paintings within paintings, mirrors, windows, books, masks, objects, and cutouts introduce new fields of vision within each canvas, causing the pictorial surface to expand in multiple directions. As Quijon, Jr. observes, the artist develops a “promiscuous iconography” in which images remain on the surface, approaching one another without necessarily establishing stable relationships of causality, hierarchy, or meaning. This attention to the surface also manifests itself as something erotic in the very materiality of the works.

“This erotics is not merely the condition of bodies exposed and in the nude. In Weishof’s works, it is a sensory plenitude—proliferating images, marked surfaces, visual stimuli—presenting a painterly surface that is as visceral as it is vicinal, intricately contiguous and intriguing, demanding a promiscuous attentiveness.” writes the curator.

Following her participation in important exhibitions such as the 14th Mercosul Biennial, Maya Weishof presents a renewed body of work in Room of Masks, marked by a vibrant and mature artistic production.

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Exhibition design: Camilo Oliveira