Ana Maria Tavares

Born in 1958 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil

Ana Maria Tavares describes her artistic themes as urban architectural grammar and the dislocations implicit in modern mobility.

“I’m very interested in the idea of passage of nonpermanence; in other words, in the way we live our lives today. We are surrounded by places of passage, places that are nonplaces: shopping malls, bus stations, toll booths. We are bombarded by appeals to us and by excess,” she said.

Airports and departure lounges are a recurrent theme in her work – places that symbolize exit from everyday life, getting ready to depart, floating, meditating and the overlap of the real and the virtual. Tavares’ work stands at the crossroads of sculpture and urban design. She is known internationally for her imaginative, often disorienting use of prosaic urban materials such as steel, glass and mirrors in structures that resemble street furniture or architectural fittings. Often, these invented structures form puzzles or mazes for the visitor to explore.

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2011 – Desviantes (da série Hieróglifos Sociais) – Galeria Vermelho. São Paulo, SP. Brasil
2008 – Crystal Waters. Kröller Müller Museum – Arnhem. Holanda
2001 – Middelburg Airport Lounge with Parede Niemeyer – De Vleeshal, Middelburg. Holanda
1998 – Relax’o’visions – Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, São Paulo, SP. Brasil
1997 – Porto Pampulha – Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG. Brasil

Selected Group Exhibitions
2003 – Living Inside the Grid – The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, New York, USA,
2001 – Ego Fugal – 7a Bienal internacional de Istambul, Turquia
2000 – 7a Bienal de La Habana: Una más acerca del otro – Habana, Cuba
,
1991 – 21ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo – SP, Brasil,
1987 – 19ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, SP, Brasil