Wanda Pimentel

Wanda Pimentel (1943 – 23 December 2019) was a Brazilian painter, based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her work is distinguished by "a precise, hard-edge quality encompassing geometric lines and smooth surfaces in pieces that often defy categorization as abstract or figurative." "My studio is in my bedroom," Pimentel said in an interview. "Everything has to be very neat . . . I work alone. I think my issues are the issues of our time: the lack of perspective for people, their alienation. The saddest thing is for people to be dominated by things."

Pimentel held her first solo exhibition in 1969 at Rio's Galeria Relêvo and went on to participate in the Seventh Paris Biennale and the Eleventh Bienal de São Paulo (both 1971) and "International Pop" at the Walker Art Center (2015). Her work is in the collections of the Modern Art Museum of Rio de Janeiro; the Contemporary Art Museum, Rio de Janeiro; The Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires; and Art Institute of Chicago. Her work was included in the Brooklyn Museum's 2018 exhibition "Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985."

She departed from her well-known Pop works when she created series titled "Bueiros" (Manholes) and "Portas" (Doors) in the late 1970s, "Invólucros" (Capsules) and "Linhas" (Lines) in the 1990s, "Animais" (Animals) in the 2000s, and "Memórias" (Memories) in the 2010s, among others.

Early life and education Pimentel was born in 1943. Her father died when she was 12 years old. She began painting around the age of 20.

In 1964, she began studying art at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro as a student of Ivan Serpa, one of the pioneers of constructivism in Brazil during the 1950s. Serpa founded and led Grupo Frente alongside Lygia Clark, Helio Oiticica, and Franz Weissman. He was known for his rigorous geometric abstractions. Under his influence, Pimentel developed her plain constructivist spatial organization as well as her consistent use of precise and straight lines in her artworks. Her smooth brushwork was inspired by the neofiguration period. During the 1960s, she experimented with different styles, such as pop art in the United States and England, nouveau réalisme in France, and neofiguration and new objectivity in Brazil.

Selected artworks

Sem Título (Untitled), from the series Envolvimento (1968) Medium: Vinyl paint on canvas

Wanda Pimentel primarily uses four colors in this painting: red, green, white, and yellow. There are two fragmented female legs as well as everyday objects. These include two chairs, a hair dryer, and an open purse which includes the following: a hair comb, lipstick, several bobby pins, a toothbrush, nail polish, and hair spray. They all appear to be in an indoor setting. There is a dual relationship represented in this painting: "it might seem that a young woman is simply making use of the world of objects, but at the same time the female body is objectified."

Abstrato Verde (Green Abstract), from the series Envolvimento (1969) Medium: Acrylic on canvas

In this painting, Wanda Pimentel uses two primary colors: green and red. There is a fragmented bare foot on a table in this painting as well as another table with kettles on it. The female appears to be in the kitchen, a place traditionally dominated by women. The way the female's foot is positioned suggests that she is merely watching as chaos ensues in the kitchen. The title of the artwork may be intended as subtle irony since Pimentel was never concerned with distinguishing figuration from abstractionism. series, which includes 27 paintings, remains the most iconic series of Pimentel's work. It is primarily made up of pieces created during 1968 and 1969, but the work continued until 1984. This series was seen as the "clashing of two irreconcilable references: lines and abstract, geometric shapes as well as the desire to represent the contemporary and everyday world in transformation as it is experienced and perceived." Wanda Pimentel questioned an "impersonal and mechanized world, in an epoch when mass media communications and the aesthetics of spectacle, embodied by television, had already declared victory over the silence of intimacy." which abolished the national legislature and prohibited every sort of political protest. In this context, Pimentel's Envolvimentos can be viewed as a subtle, yet critical, strike against the system. that she included in her exhibition instead of a traditional critical text. Pimentel commented "The poem has a lot to do with these works. I wanted something sensitive, so I chose this poetry. Portuguese from Portugal is very dense, very beautiful when written. And my father was very fond of Fernando Pessoa".

Collections

1993 -The Path of Niterói (Col. João Sattamini) – Paço Imperial- Rio de Janeiro, RJ 1984 -Retrato de un país (Col. Gilberto Chateaubriand) – Barbican Art Gallery – London 1999/2000 -Acervo MAM – A Selection – Museum of Modern Art- Rio de Janeiro, RJ 2001 – Art in Latin America (Eduardo Constantini Collection) – MALBA – Museum 2008 'Duas Faces do Brasil' – Col. Gilberto Chateaubriand – MAM Rio de Janeiro, RJ 2009 Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection – MAM – Permanent Room – MAM – Rio de Janeiro 2016 Art Institute of Chicago - Museum Chicago - USA