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Heloisa Maia is an artist born in João Pessoa, Paraíba, in the northeast of Brazil in 1960. She has earned degrees in Communications Studies from The Federal University of Paraíba (1979) and Public Relations and Advertising from The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1982). Over the years, she has lived and worked between João Pessoa and Porto Alegre in Brazil, as well as in the USA in San Francisco, New York, and Miami where she has been based since 2017.
She has honed her craft through the study of painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, etching, and engraving at institutions such as The San Francisco Art Academy (with Justine Parrish), The Palo Alto Art League, The University of New Mexico( with Carl Paak),The Tambiá Visual Arts Center in João Pessoa (with Flávio Tavares and Marlene Almeida), The City Hall Art Studio in Porto Alegre (with Michael Chapman), The Art Students League of New York (with Phillip Sherrod and A. Palumbo), and The Parsons School of Design in New York (with Mohammad Khalil and Ellen Evjen).
Maia’s work has been featured in The Bolsa de Arte de Porto Alegre Gallery (2001), The Gamela Gallery (2001) in João Pessoa, The Paraíba Cultural Foundation (2002), Format (2009) in New York, Guild Hall of East Hampton (2010) in New York, Usina Cultural Energisa (2018) in João Pessoa, and among many other locations.
Her body of work contains one central theme, the woman. She explores the strengths of women in general, commenting on their solitude, doubts, motherhood, and experiences. In doing so, she brings her understanding as a woman to the canvas, giving her work a strong autobiographical sense. Her state of mind can be seen depicted on both canvas and paper through her use of color and unusual shapes. Acrylic paints, dry pigments, pastels, and oil sticks allow her broad brushstrokes to spontaneously set a scene to receive a figure emphasized by drawings and profiles. These figures arise from a pictorial fantasy bathed in colors that represent not only Maia’s state of mind, but the essence of the places where her inspiration comes from. Her use of a figure is constant, but its representation is far from a realistic depiction. Incorporating the color effects from the background layers of her paintings, and reducing elements to either strong or delicate lines of drawings, she recreates her own personal stories or those of the women she has observed throughout her everyday life and her travels.
Education:
She completed Communication Studies at The Federal University of Paraiba in 1980, and earned a Baccalaureate in Public Relations and Advertising (1982) from The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre. Between 1982 and 1986, she lived in California and studied Painting with Helen Barber at The Palo Alto Pacific Art League, Drawing and Illustration with Justine Parish at The San Francisco Art Academy, and Ceramics with Carl Paak at The University of New Mexico. Then she found herself back in Brazil, where she took Painting lessons with Marlene Almeida e Flávio Tavares (1994) at The Tambiá Visual Arts Center in João Pessoa, Paraíba. In 1995, she moved to Porto Alegre and participated in Painting Workshops with Michael Chapman at The City Hall Art Studio. She returned to the USA in 1998 and 1999, this time to New York, where she took Etching and Engraving classes with Mohammad Khalil, at The Parsons School of Design and Painting, and Drawing with Phillip Sherrod and Anthony Palumbo at The Art Students League of New York.
Art Residencies Programs:
2016 - Residence Saint Veran, Vaison-la-Romaine, Provence, France.
2000 - Freie Kuntschule Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Solo Exhibitions:
2018 - Usina Cultural Energisa, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
2009 - Format, New York, US.
2001 - Bolsa de Arte de Porto Alegre Gallery, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
- Centro Social et Culturel Franco-Brasilien, Paris, France.
- Gamela Gallery, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
Group Exhibitions:
2016 - La Galerie, Vaison-la-Romaine, Provance, France.
2010 - East Hampton Guild Hall, East Hampton, New York, US.
2009 - Crazy Monkey Gallery, Amagansett, New York, US.
2008 - Crazy Monkey Gallery, Amagansett, New York, US.
2006 - Gamela Gallery, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
- Bolsa de Arte, Porto Alegre Gallery, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
- Postal Art, Sesc João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
2005 - O Desenho da Pintura, Saelpa Cultural Center na X Fenart, II Drawing Biennial,
João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
2004 - Gamela Gallery, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
2003 - Goiás Federal University Art Center, Goiás, Brazil.
- Gamela Gallery, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
- Bolsa de Arte de Porto Alegre Gallery, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
- São Francisco Cultural Center, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
2002 - Federal University of Sergipe Art and Culture Center, Aracajú, Brazil.
- São Francisco Cultural Center, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil.
- I Drawing Biennial, Paraíba Cultural Foundation, João Pessoa, Paraíba,
Brazil.
2001 - Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul Education and Art Center, Brazil.
- Tambiá Visual Arts Center, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
2000 - Freie Kuntschule Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
1994 - Tambiá Visual Arts Center, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
Commissions / Special Projects:
2020/22 - Project “Artist Open”, studio visit, promoted by Fountainhead Residency, Miami.
2019 - Casa Cor Miami Design Exhibition, paintings at architect Cristiana Mascarenhas project,
Miami, Florida, US.
- Project “Artists Open”, studio visit organized by Fountainhead Residency, Miami, Florida, US.
2018 - “Art Talk” series project promoted by The55Project, interview with Dainy Tapia, Miami, Florida, US.
2016 - Painting exhibition at Ornare in Miami, Florida, US.
2009 - Project “Art at Florense”, painting exhibitions at Florense Showroom in New York, US.
2008 - Project “Art at Florense”, painting exhibitions at Florense Showrooms in Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2007 - Project “Art at Florense”, painting exhibitions at Florense Showrooms in Maceio and Recife, Brazil.
2002 - Jurerê Beach Village Hotel Project – special commission of 12 paintings based on the wild life, vegetation and the Hotel lifestyle. In Jurerê, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
2000 - Paintings and murals for the Design Exhibition “Estar.com” in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
- Paintings at the Design Exhibition “Casa Cor Sul” in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
2001 - Paintings at the Design Exhibition “Casa Cor Sul” in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
1997 - Murals for Ölmos-Paez Villaro Restaurant, at the Design Exhibition “Casa Cor Mercosul”, Punta del Este, Uruguay.