Mendes Wood DM is pleased to participate in the second edition of Paris+ par Art Basel with a presentation highlighting the production of female artists from the gallery’s program, and to unveil a sculptural installation by Brazilian artist Solange Pessoa in the Tuileries Garden.

For this year’s fair, Mendes Wood DM will showcase a group of small-scale paintings by Belgian artist Sanam Khatibi. This new body of work, titled From the Vow Made, is described by Khatibi as “a series of protection charms”. Painted in a visceral way, the pieces demonstrate the artist’s continued explorations of rituals, the duality of triumph and failure, the depths of our primal impulses, and the thin line that exists between fear and desire.

Also featured are new works by Brazilian painter Patricia Leite, made with oil on wood, a signature style for the artist. Navigating various references, Leite gives an outlet to her memories and latent affections through an extremely peculiar pictorial exercise. Bucolic scenes from trips or images extracted from videos that caught her attention trigger a process towards paintings that come into existence in a rare combination between seriousness and leniency. In her cohesive body of work, we find recurring echoes and resonances from themes and styles that are well represented in the history of art, such as landscape painting and pop art elements. However, these resources are always used as a support to express intimate manifestations that could be in a diary or in a map with organically collected and carefully edited images.

Wood is also transformed in the new sculptures by Brazilian artist Sonia Gomes. For the series meu amarelo é ouro [my yellow is gold], Gomes repurposed a group of thick wood logs that originally served as cattle grid in a farm, incorporating subtle interventions with threads, lace, gold leaf, and paint. For the artist, who is currently highlighted at the 35th edition of the São Paulo Biennial with a survey consisting of over 20 sculptures, the choice of materials brings with them colors, textures, trims, and an indefinable set of memories.

The presentation at Paris+ par Art Basel will include as well new works by Patricia Ayres, Paloma Bosquê, Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Varda Caivano, Nina Canell, Mimi Lauter, Maaike Schoorel, and Paula Siebra, alongside historic pieces by Heidi Bucher.

Paris+ par art basel

18/10 — 22/10 2023