Author Description

Accompanying the first major UK solo exhibition of her work, this comprehensive publication charts five decades of Brazil-based artist Anna Maria Maiolino, one of the defining female voices of her generation. Born in Calabria, Italy, in 1942, Anna Maria Maiolino's extraordinary multi-dimensional career is presented by Whitechapel Gallery in the first major UK solo exhibition of the artist's work. Bringing together emotive clay sculptures, politically-charged films and performances, drawings, photography and installations, the large-scale survey will feature highlights of Maiolino's work from the late 1960s to the present. Drawing inspiration from the everyday female consciousness, Maiolino's work considers speech, language and the body, and frequently takes inspiration from her experience as an immigrant coming of age under Brazil's military dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s. From her personal perspective as a woman, a feminist and a mother, she charts half a century of political, military and cultural shifts in Brazil, with her work embracing a wide range of languages and media to study the underlying difficulty in communication, expresssion and human relationships. The catalogue will feature essays by Michael Asbury, Catherine de Zegher and Paolo Miyada. Exhibition Whitechapel Gallery, London: 24 September 2019 - 12 January 2020 Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Sao Paolo: September - December 2020