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Adriana Varejão

Adriana Varejão

  • About
  • Biography
  • News
  • Books
  • Gallery Exhibitions
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  • About
    View works. Adriana Varejão, Blue Song, 2019
    Blue Song, 2019
    View works

    One of the most original and significant voices in contemporary Brazilian art, Adriana Varejão is celebrated internationally as an artist whose work addresses the complex, interweaving themes of history, memory and culture with decolonial narratives.

    Since the mid-1990s, Varejão has explored two juxtaposing motifs – flesh and tiles (azulejos) – drawing on the decorative tradition of her native Brazil to examine the confluence of cultures and underlying tensions: between beauty and violence, geometric order and the visceral body. The cracked tile has been a recurring motif in Varejão’s work since early in her career and in visceral monochromatic works, she draws particularly on the history of Portuguese Azulejo tilework and the legacy of Brazil’s colonial past. The artist’s ongoing Meat Ruins works render visible absent bodies implied by her tile works. These fragmentary wall and floor sculptures incorporate sections of trompe-l’oeil tilework that contain masses of material applied and painted to evoke bloodied meat. For Varejão, flesh occupies a symbolic position as a mediator of history, and in its ability to stir both seduction and repulsion. Resembling marble, the veins of fat and flesh in her Ruins make explicit the parallels in Varejão’s art between architecture and the body – these fleshy, architectonic ruins laying bare the vulnerability of bodies, buildings and even entire cultures.     

    Speaking about her work, the artist says: ‘My fiction does not belong to any time or place, instead it is characterised by themes dealing with rupture and discontinuity. Everything is contaminated. In my work, the formation of Brazilian culture from the colonial period onwards is used as a metaphor for the modern world.’

     

    Download CV (PDF, opens in a new tab.)
    View artist website
  • Selected Works

    Adriana Varejão, Azulejão (Copacabana), 2024 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Blue Song, 2019 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Ruína de Charque Brasília, 2018 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Budapeste III, 2018 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Drosera aliciae, filiformis e Sarracenia purpurea, 2012 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Ama Divers, 2011 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Celacanto provoca Maremoto, 2004 – 2008 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, O Sedutor (The Seducer), 2004 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, O Obsceno (The Obscene), 2004 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Macau Wall, 2002 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Green Tilework in Live Flesh, 2000 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Kitchen Tiles with a Variety of Game, 1995 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Entrance Figure (Enter Your Grace), 1996 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Map of Lopo Homem, 1992 - 2004 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Adriana Varejão, Azulejão (Copacabana), 2024
  • Biography
    View works. Adriana Varejão, Blue Song, 2019
    Blue Song, 2019
    View works

    Born in 1964, Adriana Varejão currently lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    In 2025, the solo exhibition Adriana Varejão: Don’t Forget, We Come From the Tropics opened at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in New York, closely followed by the opening of Adriana Varejão and Paula Rego: Between Your Teeth at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, an exhibition that highlights the points of intersection between both artists through a combined presentation of more than 100 works. In 2022, Adriana Varejão: Sutures, Fissures, Ruins–among the most comprehensive exhibitions of the artist’s work to date, featuring more than 60 works from 1985 to 2022–was on view at Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Brazil.

    Other important solo exhibitions include Adriana Varejão: Por uma retórica canibal, curated by Luisa Duarte, Museum of Modern Art, Salvador, travelling to MAMAM, Recife (2019); the French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, Rome (2017); Dallas Contemporary, Texas (2015); The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2014–15); Histórias às margens (Histories at the margins), Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (2012), which toured to Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, and MALBA - Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (2013); Hara Museum, Tokyo (2007); Fondation Cartier Pour L'Art Contemporain, Paris (2005); and Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon (2005) amongst others.

    A permanent pavilion devoted to Adriana Varejaõ's work opened in 2008 at Instituto Inhotim in Brazil.

    Download CV (PDF, opens in a new tab.)
  • News
    • Adriana Varejão talks to The New York Times about her first solo museum exhibition in New York

      Adriana Varejão talks to The New York Times about her first solo museum exhibition in New York

      April 23, 2025
      'Each plate is like a universe. I like how they relate to my passion for ceramics, for the decorative arts and their history, and how craft can disrupt artistic hierarchies.'
      Read More
    • Paula Rego and Adriana Varejão: Between Your Teeth at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon

      Paula Rego and Adriana Varejão: Between Your Teeth at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon

      April 11, 2025
      On view 11 April–22 September 2025, this major exhibition brings together some 100 works to highlight the connecting threads between the two artists, with particular...
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    • Adriana Varejão at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, New York

      Adriana Varejão at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, New York

      March 6, 2025
      On view 27 March–22 June 22 2025, the exhibition features new paintings from Varejão’s acclaimed Plate series and a site-specific outdoor sculptural intervention.
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    • Victoria Miro at Frieze Masters with a solo presentation of works by Adriana Varejão

      Victoria Miro at Frieze Masters with a solo presentation of works by Adriana Varejão

      October 9, 2024
      A rare opportunity in London to see a comprehensive selection of works by one of the most original and significant voices in contemporary Brazilian art.
      Read More
    • Adriana Varejão: Sutures, Fissures, Ruins at Pinacoteca de São Paulo

      Adriana Varejão: Sutures, Fissures, Ruins at Pinacoteca de São Paulo

      March 26, 2022
      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...
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    • Now open – An Exhibition of Works by… featuring Adriana Varejão at Witte de With, Rotterdam

      Now open – An Exhibition of Works by… featuring Adriana Varejão at Witte de With, Rotterdam

      January 19, 2020
      Taking blue and white ceramics as a starting point, this exhibition (19 January–19 July 2020) of international artists explores the migration of form. The exhibition...
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    • Interiorities, featuring Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Adriana Varejão, at Haus der Kunst, Munich

      Interiorities, featuring Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Adriana Varejão, at Haus der Kunst, Munich

      November 29, 2019
      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...
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    • Adriana Varejão: Otros cuerpos detrás at Museo Tamayo

      Adriana Varejão: Otros cuerpos detrás at Museo Tamayo

      August 20, 2019
      A monographic exhibition Otros cuerpos detrás ( Other bodies behind) (24 August–10 November 2019) explores the lines of research that the Brazilian artist has developed...
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    • Adriana Varejão: Por uma retórica canibal at MAMAM, Recife, Brazil

      Adriana Varejão: Por uma retórica canibal at MAMAM, Recife, Brazil

      June 28, 2019
      Curated by Luisa Duarte, this major exhibition (28 June–8 September 2019) features works created from the early 1990s to present. The exhibition tours from the...
      Read More
    • Adriana Varejão: Por uma retórica canibal at the Museum of Modern Art, Salvador

      Adriana Varejão: Por uma retórica canibal at the Museum of Modern Art, Salvador

      April 17, 2019
      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...
      Read More
    • Adriana Varejão featured in the Whitechapel Gallery's Terrains of the Body: Photography from the National Museum of Women in the Arts

      Adriana Varejão featured in the Whitechapel Gallery's Terrains of the Body: Photography from the National Museum of Women in the Arts

      December 8, 2016
      18 January – 16 April 2017 Whitechapel Gallery Drawn from the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, U.S.), this collection display showcases photography...
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    • Adriana Varejão included in Flesh at York Art Gallery

      Adriana Varejão included in Flesh at York Art Gallery

      November 8, 2016
      23 September 2016 – 19 March 2017 Human and animal, alive and dead, familiar and strange; this major exhibition will explore how artists represent flesh...
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    • Adriana Varejão's Olympic Aquatic Stadium commission for Rio 2016 is unveiled

      Adriana Varejão's Olympic Aquatic Stadium commission for Rio 2016 is unveiled

      Olympic Aquatic Stadium, Rio 5 August - 21 August 2016
      The sea and angels in a baroque style… introducing the look of the Rio 2016 Olympic Aquatics Stadium Work by Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão will...
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    • Adriana Varejão interviewed in the New York Times about her Rio 2016 commission

      Adriana Varejão interviewed in the New York Times about her Rio 2016 commission

      July 13, 2016
      Waves of Dark History Break on an Olympic Pool. By Laura van Straaten. In a few weeks, as TV cameras swoop over the Olympic Park...
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    • Adriana Varejão in The Great Animal Orchestra at Fondation Cartier

      Adriana Varejão in The Great Animal Orchestra at Fondation Cartier

      July 2, 2016
      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 ,...
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  • Books
    • Adriana Varejão: Historeas e margens (MAM)

      Adriana Varejão: Historeas e margens (MAM)

      2013
      Hardcover, 256 pages
      Publisher: Museu De Arte Moderna De São Paulo
      ISBN: 978-85-86871-62-7
      Dimensions: 27 x 27 cm
      Learn More
  • Gallery Exhibitions
    • Adriana Varejão

      Adriana Varejão

      14 Jul – 8 Sep 2018 Venice
      An exhibition of new Saunas and Baths paintings, and Meat Ruins by the renowned Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão, her sixth exhibition at the gallery. Since the mid-1990s, Adriana Varejão has...
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    • Surface Work

      Surface Work

      11 Apr – 16 Jun 2018 Victoria Miro Mayfair
      This international, cross-generational exhibition is a celebration of women artists who have shaped and transformed, and continue to influence and expand, the language and definition of abstract painting. The exhibition...
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    • Adriana Varejão: Carnivorous

      Adriana Varejão: Carnivorous

      6 Jun – 2 Aug 2014 Victoria Miro Mayfair
      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,...
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    • Adriana Varejão: Polvo

      Adriana Varejão: Polvo

      16 Oct – 9 Nov 2013 London Gallery II
      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...
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    • Adriana Varejão

      Adriana Varejão

      7 Sep – 1 Oct 2011 London Gallery II
      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....
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    • Adriana Varejão: Saunas

      Adriana Varejão: Saunas

      14 Sep – 9 Oct 2004 London Gallery I
      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...
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    • Extended Painting

      Extended Painting

      14 Jan – 14 Feb 2004 London Gallery II
      Anne Chu, Hiroko Nakao, Jacco Olivier, Grayson Perry, Tal R, Adriana Varejão This exhibition features six artists from Asia, the Americas and Europe whose work extends the possibility of painting...
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    • Adriana Varejão

      Adriana Varejão

      30 Jan – 28 Mar 2002 London Gallery I
      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...
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    • Raw

      Raw

      7 May – 30 Jun 2000 London Gallery I
      Yayoi Kusama. Francesca Woodman, Robin Lowe, Adriana Varejão, Isaac Julien, Doug Aitken, Abigail Lane, Hadrian Pigott, Brad Lochore, Cecily Brown, Chris Ofili, Andreas Gursky, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Inez van Lamsweerde,...
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  • Contact Form

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