Luiz Zerbini

Luiz Zerbini was born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1959. He lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Across his career, which spans over three decades, Luiz Zerbini has developed a complex visual vocabulary at the intersection of figuration and abstraction. He first emerged within the generational (and global) ‘return to painting’ of the 1980s, centred in Rio de Janeiro around the Parque Lage School of Visual Arts and subsequently defined by the landmark exhibition ‘Como vai você Geração 80?’ (How Are You Doing, 80s Generation?, 1984).

The grid — a formal leitmotif closely associated with modernism — heavily features in the artist’s recent paintings, a subtle nod to the mosaic pavements and façades of Brazilian tower blocks. Using it as a compositional structuring device, numerous works show geometric forms juxtaposed with lush, tropical flora.