Ana Cláudia Almeida features in New York Magazine

New York Magazine highlights Ana Cláudia Almeida as “one of six female artists making major solo debuts this fall,” ahead of her upcoming solo show at Stephen Friedman New York.

Jerry Saltz describes her work as painting “with spectral precision; colors blur, as if you’re seeing underwater.” Almeida is featured alongside Karen Barbour, Olivia van Kuiken, Sasha Gordon, Adebunmi Gbadebo, and María Berrío.

Reflecting on her practice, Almeida says: “it all started with one very, very large-scale oil painting. I was mostly thinking about the movements of a waterfall, but there were a few different cultural references that influenced me. One was a song by the Brazilian singer Tim Maia, and another was Black Orpheus, which offers a very stereotypical idea of Rio, where I’m from. There is a big party scene, and it’s very lively, but the presence of death is everywhere. As I saw this duality in the movie, I began to see the same duality in the canvas. With this show, I was more intentional about the freedom to play. I have some transfers, some oil-pastel drawings, monotypes, and installation work. And I work a little bit on one, a little bit on the other, and things keep influencing each other. One work changes how I see the other. What is in the palette of one goes to the palette of the other. Because of the first work, all the paintings include movement of some kind, like a force falling.”