amelia toledo

Amelia Toledo  (b. 1926, São Paulo, Brazil - d. 2017, Cotia, Brazil) started studying visual arts at the end of the 1930s, as she began to frequent Anita Malfatti’s studio. During the following decade, she continued her studies with Yoshiya Takaoka and Waldemar da Costa. In 1948, she started working as a project designer for the architecture studio Vilanova Artigas. Her encounters with iconic figures of Brazilian Modern Art encouraged her to develop a multifaceted oeuvre, entwining diverse artistic languages such as sculpture, painting and printmaking, which further flourished through her contact with other artists of her generation including Mira Schendel, Tomie Ohtake, Hélio Oiticica and Lygia Pape.

Amelia Toledo's diverse practice in terms of media, reveals the artist's investigative ambition to seek an expanded understanding of artistic possibilities. Starting in the 1970s, the artist’s production transcended its constructive grammar - characterized by geometric elements and curves -, turning instead to organic shapes. Toledo began to collect various materials, such as shells and stones, making her surrounding landscape a fundamental element in her practice. In parallel, Toledo’s paintings took on monochromatic characteristics, revealing her interest in investigating color and its behavior.

Amelia Toledo has participated in many exhibitions in Brazil and internationally. Recently her works were presented in solo shows as: Amelia Toledo: 1958-2007, at Nara Roesler (2021), in New York, USA; Amelia Toledo – Lembrei que esqueci, at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB-SP) (2017), in São Paulo, Brazil; Amelia Toledo, at Estação Pinacoteca (2009), in São Paulo, Brazil; Novo olhar, at Museu Oscar Niemeyer (2007), in Curitiba, Brazil; and Viagem ao coração da matéria, at Instituto Tomie Ohtake (2004), in São Paulo, Brazil. Main recent group exhibitions include: Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985, at Hammer Museum (2017), in Los Angeles, USA; at Brooklyn Museum (2018), in New York, USA; at Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (2018), in São Paulo, Brazil; Modos de ver o Brasil: Itaú Cultural 30 anos, at Oca (2017), in São Paulo, Brazil; 30x Bienal: Transformações na arte brasileira da 1ª à 30ª edição, at Fundação Bienal de São Paulo (2013), in São Paulo, Brazil; Um ponto de ironia, at Fundação Vera Chaves Barcellos (2011), in Viamão, Brazil; and Brasiliana MASP: Moderna contemporânea, at Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) (2006), in São Paulo, Brazil; 29ª Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2010); 10ª Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2015). Her works are part of major permanent museum collections such as: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal; Instituto Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM-SP), São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP), São Paulo, Brazil; and Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; among others.