Marcela Cantuária (b. 1991, Brazil)

Marcela Cantuária lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, and has a degree in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Her revolutionary painting, characterised by vibrant colours and bold brushstrokes, intertwines historical images of the political world with contemporary visual culture representations. A work that unveils alternative narratives to that of a society structured on machismo and misogyny, as she proposes the construction of alternative vocabularies reflecting her extensive investigation into women’s struggles around the world. In the quest for freedom, her oeuvre seeks to raise questions on women’s place in society, social class struggle, the division of power, gender stereotypes and struggles over political meanings.

She has exhibited her projects in several solo and group exhibitions, of which we highlight: The South American Dream at Pérez Art Museum (2023, USA); Propostas de Reencantamento at Sesc Pompeia, (2022, BR); La invocación del pasado a la velocidad del ahora at Centro Centro (ES), La larga noche de los 500 años, A Gentil Carioca (2019, Brazil); Sutur|ar Libert|ar, Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica(2019, BR); Brazilian Stories at Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP,2022, Brazil); 8th Biennial of Painting: The ‘t’ is Silent at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens (2022, Belgium); Acts of Revolt: other imaginaries about independence at the Museum of Modern Art of RJ (2022, Brazil); Essa minha letra: Lima Barreto e os Modernismos Negros at the Museum of Afro-Brazilian History and Culture (MUHCAB, Brazil); Espelho Labirinto at the Rio Museum of Art (MAR, Brazil); Crônicas Cariocas at the Rio Museum of Art (MAR, Brazil, 2021) and Histórias Feministas: artists after 2000 at the Assis Chateaubriand Museum of Art of São Paulo (MASP (Brazil, 2019) among others. She is represented by the Brazilian gallery A Gentil Carioca (BR).

Marcela Cantuária’s outstanding work can be found in several art collections, notably Pérez Art Museum Miami (USA), Museu de Arte de São Paulo (BR), Assis Chateaubriand MAC-PE (BR), Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (BR), Museu da Maré, RJ (BR).