{"id":396568,"date":"2025-10-07T15:57:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=396568"},"modified":"2025-10-07T15:57:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:57:43","slug":"sharjah-showcases-4-decades-of-art-by-leda-catunda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/sharjah-showcases-4-decades-of-art-by-leda-catunda\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharjah showcases 4 decades of art by Leda Catunda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 This is Brazilian artist Leda Catunda\u2019s first exhibition in an Arab country. Yet it is far from being just a thematic or dated selection of work from one of the leading contemporary Brazilian artists. The show, running from September 26 to February 8 at the Sharjah Art Foundation in the United Arab Emirates, offers visitors a comprehensive journey through the artist\u2019s creations, from the 1980s till now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the exhibition is titled \u201cLeda Catunda: I like to like what others are liking.\u201d The name is almost a portrait of the door the Brazilian artist has opened in her compositions to what is already made, to what appeals to others\u2019 tastes\u2014something that has become one of the hallmarks of her work.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
The art of Catunda: between what is hers and what belongs to others\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What Catunda does, however, is not merely a combination of already finished images and materials, but a creation that moves between painting, sculpture, installation, and works on paper, often referred to as paintings\/objects. And what is placed there as already made, combined with what comes from Catunda\u2019s mind, brush, and hands, shaped by contours she herself defines, becomes a subtle and brilliant message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the society we live in\u2014the consumer society\u2014people try to cater to every taste to sell more,\u201d explains the artist. Catunda\u2019s work, however, is far from being just a critique of this world. She sees the individual within the machinery of consumption, where you can\u2019t have everything, but you can have something. \u201cI think that in this capitalist phenomenon, the way we adapt is very affective, because you have to save your money, or it runs out\u2014but you\u2019ll have your team\u2019s t-shirt, you\u2019ll take that trip,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Work
Work \u201cSiameses,\u201d from 1998, is in the exhibition\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The artist sees the drama in the choices of consumption in today\u2019s society, where buying\u2014beyond basic necessities\u2014is truly a selection of what one likes and the fulfillment of desire. \u201cIn a highly massified society, you end up looking for a specific identity,\u201d she says, noting that this also applies to how one chooses to live or what to believe in. \u201cBy choosing, you invent, take risks, and try to find more individualized paths, even within this massification,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if this permeates and underpins Leda Catunda\u2019s work, it is also evident in the more than 60 pieces the artist is presenting in the UAE. To bring them together in galleries 4 and 5 of the Arab foundation, the works were sourced from various parts of the world. Some come from the artist herself, others from museums, and others from private collectors in places as diverse as Seoul, South Korea, Detroit and Cleveland, United States, and Caxias do Sul, Brazil, among others. The effort to arrange all of this for the exhibition, as well as the intention to present her work as a whole, surprised the artist herself.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"One
One of the paintings was sent from Rio Grande do Sul\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Leda Catunda says her connection with the UAE began about eight years ago, following a meeting with Hoor Al-Qasimi, the current director and president of the Sharjah Art Foundation, curator of the Brazilian artist\u2019s exhibition, and named the most influential person in the arts in 2024 by ArtReview. A collector and owner of Catunda\u2019s work herself, Al-Qasimi visited the artist\u2019s studio in Brazil and proposed the retrospective exhibition. \u201cWhat was very surprising for me,\u201d says Catunda, clearly pleased with the vibrancy the collection generated. The artist adds that she found Hoor Al-Qasimi\u2019s selection of works very significant. The exhibition also has curatorial assistance from Meera Madhu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Brazilian artist followed the development of the exhibition remotely during the six months leading up to it and traveled to the Arab country to oversee the installation and the opening days of the show. During the trip, Catunda had the opportunity to speak to the public alongside Al-Qasimi and to teach classes, including a workshop for children. \u201cThere weren\u2019t two children from the same place. For that reason, they all spoke English. That was the thing I found most striking in the UAE. It\u2019s a place full of energy; people go there to build a life,\u201d Catunda told ANBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist was also struck by the cleanliness and modernity of the cities in the UAE, the number of women working at the Sharjah Art Foundation, and the local openness to the new and to increasingly understanding contemporary art. Leda Catunda has exhibited around the world, in countries such as China, Japan, Norway, and the United States, but Sharjah hosts her largest solo exhibition outside Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting the UAE<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that she has debuted in the Arab world and seen the recent interest in contemporary art there, she also wants to make the region her artistic ground. \u201cThere are no concrete plans, but I had a meeting there with African curators, and with people from Australia as well, and I felt these were encounters I wouldn\u2019t have in Brazil. I feel like I made a good first step and I\u2019m very open,\u201d she says about future projects.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Leda
Leda Catunda: a leading figure in Brazilian contemporary art<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Catunda says she wasn\u2019t prepared for the Arab world, but it was a very positive surprise. \u201cIt\u2019s very different from Brazil and from all the places I\u2019ve been, and I was very happy about that, realizing there is now a new space,\u201d she says, also highlighting the warm response she received from the local audience. \u201cFor me, the experience of reaching an audience that doesn\u2019t know me and welcomed me with open arms\u2014they have posters on the streets with my name\u2014is really amazing, wonderful,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A leading figure of her time, Catunda played a vital role in reshaping Brazilian art in the 1980s, with works that brought painting and sculpture closer together, followed by softer paintings in the 1990s, and in recent years bringing Baroque intensity to her creations. Catunda entered the School of Fine Arts in the 1980s and began exhibiting in solo and group shows. The artist also holds a doctorate in Arts, has experience in academic teaching, and has received numerous awards for her work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick facts:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Exhibition \u2013 Leda Catunda: I like to like what others are liking
From September 26, 2025, to February 8, 2026
At the Sharjah Art Foundation \u2013 Galleries 4 and 5
Al Mureijah Square \u2013 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
More information and tickets here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The UAE\u2019s Sharjah Art Foundation is hosting the exhibition \u201cLeda Catunda: I like to like what others are liking\u201d until February, featuring paintings and objects from the Brazilian artist\u2019s more than forty-year career. In an interview with ANBA, Catunda shared her experience of exhibiting in an Arab country for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1455,"featured_media":396591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[12578,30664,4128,12106,23864,54575,5558,3107,33152,9579],"class_list":{"0":"post-396568","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"tag-artist-en","9":"tag-artista-en","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-contemporary-art","12":"tag-emirados-en-2","13":"tag-leda-catunda-2","14":"tag-painting","15":"tag-sculpture","16":"tag-sharjah-en-2","17":"tag-uae-en"},"wps_subtitle":"The UAE\u2019s Sharjah Art Foundation is hosting the exhibition \u201cLeda Catunda: I like to like what others are liking\u201d until February, featuring paintings and objects from the Brazilian artist\u2019s more than forty-year career. In an interview with ANBA, Catunda shared her experience of exhibiting in an Arab country for the first time.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1455"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}