Brazilian Painter Lucia Laguna Dies At 85

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Lucia Laguna, a Brazilian painter celebrated for her late but prolific career and works inspired by her surroundings in Rio de Janeiro, died there at the age of 85. Her passing was announced by her gallery, Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel.

The São Paulo gallery announced it would close for the day yesterday to honor both Laguna and Rodrigo Cass, another artist represented by the gallery who recently died in a beach accident. The gallery stated,“Throughout her career, Lucia developed a body of work defined by her engagement with landscape, memory, and everyday life.”

Laguna, a former language teacher, drew inspiration from her environment and linguistic background for her dense, brightly colored, and semi-abstract paintings, characterized by fractured and overlapping elements. She was known for a collaborative process, inviting studio assistants and students to paint an initial layer based on a theme, to which she would then respond by layering, painting over, or erasing pigments. Her gallery emphasized,“Her work, at once intimate and open to the world, occupies a fundamental place in contemporary Brazilian art.”

Many of her pieces are organized into well-known series such as“Jardim” (Garden),“Paisagem” (Landscape),“Estúdio” (Studio), and“Azulejo” (Tiles). These works merge interior and exterior figurative imagery, combining tropical foliage with vibrant cityscapes, often appearing fragmented. Geometric forms frequently interact with organic shapes in her abstracted compositions. Karsten Greve, one of her European galleries, observed,“Laguna's paintings come across sometimes as expressive and full of energy, sometimes as light and free flowing, and nearly always seem pervaded by atmospheric light.”

Born in Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil, in 1941, Laguna began her art career later in life after years as a language and literature teacher. At around 54, she enrolled in the Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage in Rio de Janeiro in 1995, where she studied under Charles Watson. By 1998, she had her first solo exhibition at Rio's Cândido Mendes Cultural Centre. A significant milestone occurred with her participation in the 30th São Paulo Biennale in 2012. Her works are now held in major Brazilian museum collections and have been exhibited internationally at venues like the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp. She also received several accolades, including Brazil's prestigious PIPA Prize. Laguna is survived by her daughter, Laura, and her grandchildren, João and Daniel.

We previously reported:

Brazilian artist Rodrigo Cass, known for his spiritual minimalist works, died at 43 in Rio de Janeiro following an accident on Copacabana Beach.

Source: ARTnews

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