Beatrice Milhazes
BEATRICE
Beatriz Milhazes was born in 1960 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has been based in a small studio in Rio de Janeiro since 1987. From 1980 to 1982, Milhazes attended the School of Visual Arts in Parque Lage, Brazil and from 1978-1981, she attended Curso de Comunicacao Social in Facha, Brazil. Milhazes is a modernist artist and uses all sorts of materials including candy bar wrappers, large colorful paper, holographic paper, and paint. Most of her artwork is done through collages. There is a lot of repetition in her work, especially with circular shapes. Milhazes work is playful, free, and psychedelic. It is also bold, rhythmic, and organized.
http://www.tate.org.uk/images/cms/12918w_bmpanamericanohr.jpg
Milhazes’ studio is right across from Rio’s botanical gardens, as can be seen from the swirl and flower-like shapes in her art. She has also taken advantage of the atmosphere of the city, with its fabrics, jewelry, and folk art. Her painter inspiration comes from the 17th century Dutch artist, Albert Elkhout, who traveled through Brazil. Her art has not always been popular in the art world because of “lack of policital statement.� Milhazes focuses more on the beauty that surrounds us and the pleasures of life. This can be seen from the colors and patterns she uses. I don’t recall her name, but Milhazes’ work reminds me greatly of the one artist who did installments in different types of areas. She used paper and used a lot of rhythm and color in her art. She used different war craft, such as guns.
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I would compare and contrast Milhazes’ work to that of the one woman artist who had an artists lecture. (I tried to find her name on the Moodle site, but I couldn’t locate it.) First I will compare. These artists are similar because they both used bright colors and rhythmeic/flowery styles. They both use bright colored paper as their main type of medium. They relate to their audiences throught the beauty and joy of their artwork and draw inspiration from what they are interested in or what is close by. They are very different though. The other artist does large installations in different types of spaces, while Milhazes does paintings on a canvas. The other artist gets some of her inspiration from more dark subjects, such as war guns, while Milhazes gets her inspiration from more positive subjects such as the energy of a city or flower gardens.
I, personally, adore Milhazes work. I love the bright, bold colors and I love the floral designs. I have a soft spot for floral designs. It reminds me a bit of scrapbooking, which I use to do, with all of the different paper designs. I would definitely recommend this artist for someone who likes to enjoy art. Milhazes’ art reveal a very optimistic view of life, which I hope most people can relate to. Her art is not political, which is sometimes nice. It is easy and enjoyable to look at, and is very different from anything I’ve seen.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Color Inspiration: Pattern and Decoration of Beatriz Milhazes « vinounku." vinounku. 26 Nov. 2008
"James Cohan Gallery." exhibit-e. 26 Nov. 2008
Nichols, Matthew Guy. "Beatriz Milhazes at James Cohan." Art in America 93.3 (Mar. 2005). 135. EBSCO MegaFILE. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 26 Nov. 2008