RIO DE JANIERO — The following is a broad survey of Rio de Janiero artist Maria Nepomuceno‘s delightful work featuring her dynamic floor- and wall-based sculptures. Expanding on traditional methods of rope weaving and straw braiding, the artist creates an immersive environment where found objects such as branches, seed pods, playful ceramic forms and paint brushes coalesce with the organic forms of the sculptures.
Featured image: Maria Nepomuceno, Untitled, 2014, Clay, beads, wood, mixed media, 114 1/8 × 94 1/2 × 78 3/4 inches. Offered by Locks Gallery, Philadelphia
Nepomuceno’s amorphic works are chromatically, culturally and metaphorically rich. Each suggests creatures, reaching dendrites, the human body and landscapes as they playfully articulate space. We love these works and we think you’ll enjoy them too. See for yourselves:
Maria Nepomuceno, Cunhó, 2016, Ceramic, clay, beads, gourd, brick, wood, acrylic, 61 × 33 1/2 × 12 3/5 inches. Offered by Baró Galeria, São Paulo
Maria Nepomuceno, Sim Installation View, 2016
Maria Nepomuceno, Untitled , 2016, Ceramic, ropes, beads, cabaça, fiberglass and resin, 27 3/5 × 19 7/10 × 11 4/5 inches. Offered by Victoria Miro, London
Maria Nepomuceno, Matando a fome, 2016, Beads, clay, ceramic, ropes, acrylic, fiberglass, resin, 23 3/5 × 66 9/10 × 66 9/10 inches. Offered by Baró Galeria, São Paulo
Maria Nepomuceno, Oferenda aos Deuses das cores, 2015, Pottery, straw, beads, clay, porcelain, fabric, shell, acrylic paint, fiberglass and resin, 137 4/5 × 118 1/10 × 47 1/5 inches. Offered by A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro
Maria Nepomuceno, Untitled, 2015, Corrugated paper, Canson paper, acrylic, oil pastel, bricks, beads, ropes, wood, glass 39 2/5 × 53 1/10 × 5 9/10 inches. Offered by Baró Galeria, São Paulo
Maria Nepomuceno, Untitled (detail), 2015, Corrugated paper, Canson paper, acrylic, oil pastel, bricks, beads, ropes, wood, glass 39 2/5 × 53 1/10 × 5 9/10 inches. Offered by Baró Galeria, São Paulo
Maria Nepomuceno, Untitled, 2013, Nylon, jute ropes; monofilament; plastic, glass, metal beads; unglazed ceramic structure; perforated bricks; plastic. On display: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Maria Nepomuceno, Universo em expansão Installation view, 2015
Maria Nepomuceno, Universo em expansão Installation view, 2015
Maria Nepomuceno, Sim Installation View, 2016
Maria Nepomuceno, Untitled, 2014, Pottery, fiberglass, beads, paint, porcelain and wood brush, 51 1/5 × 74 4/5 × 31 1/2 inches. Offered by A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro
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About the artist: Using traditional methods of rope weaving and straw braiding as well as techniques of her own design Maria Nepomuceno has, since the the early 2000s, developed a process of sewing coils of coloured rope in spirals. She explores the potentially endless permutations of this adaptable form in sculptures and installations that incorporate beads, playful ceramic forms and found objects of varying sizes. Often realised in carnival-bright colours, these works are chromatically, culturally and metaphorically rich, suggesting animals, plants, the human body and landscape ranging from the microscopic to the macrocosmic.
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