Lenora de Barros

Lenora de Barros graduated in Linguistics from Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and started her artistic career in the 1970s, a time of intense experimentalism in Brazilian art, which since the 1950s had been marked by strong constructivist and avant-gardist trends. Her early works can be placed in the field of “visual poetry” that emerged from the 1950s’ concrete poetry movement. Words and images were her original materials.

In 1983, Barros published the book Onde Se Vê [Where One Sees], a series of rather unusual “poems”. Some of them dispense with the use of words altogether and are constructed as photographic sequences, where the artist herself plays the role of different characters in performance acts. The book announced Barros’ transition to the field of visual arts. Since then, she has been following her own personal path, characterised by the use of multiple languages: video, performance, photography, sound installation and object construction.

Her most recent exhibitions include Wanted, Galerie Georg Kargl, Vienna (2019); Pisa na Paúra, Galeria Millan, São Paulo (2017); ISSOÉOSSODISSO, curated by Priscila Arantes at Paço das Artes, São Paulo (2016); and Umas e Outras, curated by Glória Ferreira, PIVÔ, São Paulo (2014). Her works feature in major public and private collections, both in Brazil and abroad, including: Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona; Daros Latinamerica, Zurich; MAM Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo and Pinacoteca de São Paulo.