It had just rained, and everything was slick and extra green, like a magical paradise.
For decades the 65-year-old Brazilian artistBeatriz Milhazeshas maintained a studio near the gardens.
Embedded in her designs are flowers, fruits, and intricate patterns inspired by traditional textiles and 19th-century costumes.
LAYER BY LAYERBeatriz Milhazes,Santa Cruz,1995. Ariel Ione Williams. © Beatriz Milhazes.
I think that art, this practiceits always kind of a mystery, Milhazes says.
Perhaps no other artist has better succeeded at capturing Rios exuberant blend of maximalism and grit.
Milhazes was born to an art historian mother and a lawyer father.
Beatriz Milhazes in front of her paintingThe Four Seasonsin 2024
Originally she studied journalism, but later, at her mothers suggestion, tried art school.
I felt completely thats where I was to stay, Milhazes remembers.
She filters all of these influences through the lens of abstraction.
Beatriz Milhazes,Inalbis, 1995–96
And then, says Gutierrez-Guimaraes, you add her unique technique.
Finally, she peels away the plastic, leaving a reverse of the painted image.
This was an enormous opening for me, Milhazes says.
Beatriz Milhazes,Carioca Landscape Paisagem Carioca, 2000
Not long after this breakthrough in technique, Milhazes was exhibited at the influential Carnegie International in 1995.
Steadfast and enchanting, like the city that made her.
