Rivane Neuenschwander
Rivane Neuenschwander was born in 1967 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. She lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil.
Neuenschwander is one of the most internationally renowned Brazilian artists of her generation. She often allows the influence of autonomous, transient forces – humans and animals being recurring elements – to dictate the production of her works. Themes of mutability, geography and nature underpin Neuenschwander’s practice. Highlighting the beauty of overlooked phenomena and seemingly banal gestures, she seeks to unveil, and make sense of, the chaotic logic that underpins both the natural and man-made worlds.
Neuenschwander’s unique take on Brazilian conceptualism investigates chance and control, at times through direct interaction with the viewer. Her innovative and experimental practise includes painting, photography, film, sculpture and installation. Identity is integral to her works; she draws from folk traditions and incorporates eclectic influences from Brazil’s diverse history of art movements.
Neuenschwander’s participatory works are made in collaboration with the viewer, involving a combination of games, experiments and spontaneous and participatory actions. Her works are shaped by an interest in language, nature, geography, time and social interactions and how these processes are connected.
A major exhibition by the artist opened at Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto in September 2022, focusing on Neuenschwander’s most recent film work ‘Eu sou uma arara / I am a Macaw’. Neuenschwander also had an important exhibition at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz in November 2021, bringing together historical and recent works and accompanied by a substantial publication. In October 2021, a significant work in the collection of Instituto Inhotim, Brumadinho titled ‘First Love’ was exhibited in the form of digital billboards in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A solo presentation of new works on paper by Neuenschwander opened at Stephen Friedman Gallery, London in March 2022.
In 2013 Neuenschwander received the 6th Yanghyun Prize in Korea. In 2010 she was the subject of a mid-career survey ‘A Day Like Any Other’, which originated at the New Museum, New York and travelled to Mildred Kemper Art Museum, Saint Louis (2010); Miami Art Museum, Miami (2011) and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin (2011).
Other notable solo exhibitions include ‘Alegoria del Miedo (Allegory of Fear)’, NC-Arte, Bogotá, Colombia (2018); ‘Quarta-Feira de Cinzas/Epilogue’, Perez Art Museum, Miami, Florida (2018); ‘The Name of Fear’, Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2017); ‘Secondary Stories’, SPACE, Linda Pace Foundation, San Antonio, Texas, USA (2016); ‘The Name of Fear’, Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2016); ‘Children’s Commission 2015’, Whitechapel Gallery, London, England (2015); ‘mal-entendidos/misunderstandings’, São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo, Brazil (2014); ‘Quarta-feira de cinzas/Epilogue’, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, USA (2014); ‘POST - The Order and the Method’, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark (2013); ‘The Spiral and The Square. Exercises in Translatability’, Trondheim Kunstmuseum, Trondheim, Norway (2012) and ‘Wednesday Series’, Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, California, USA (2012).
Neuenschwander’s works are included in prominent collections internationally including: Tate, London, England; Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Vienna, Austria; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Instituto Inhotim, Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil; La Fundacion Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico and Dallas Museum of Art, Texas, USA.