I first learned of Brazilian artist Fernanda Gomes (b. 1960) through an amazing series of talks I was obsessed with during the height of the pandemic. The talks were half hour lunchtime tours, in 2020 and 2021, through The Warehouse in Dallas which highlighted work within the incredible Rochofsky Collection. I attended all of them, and if I missed one, I watched the recording. You can watch Post-War Geometry: Vulnerability and Softness included art by Fernanda Gomes, Eva Rothschild, Richard Tuttle and Jackie Windsor here.

The Fernanda Gomes show at Peter Freeman Inc was one of my favorite gallery shows during my recent trip to New York City. It was also for some reason the hardest for me to capture on my iPhone. My photos were terrible. There are some beautiful images on the gallery website. Sorry!

I loved how this piece was hung.

“Using a vast range of materials and procedures, she makes artworks either in a traditional artisanal way or by constructing objects from all sorts of items collected from her immediate surroundings. By choosing to repurpose what already exists, she reflects on consumerism, waste, value, and the idea of economy in a broader sense, as a principle and practice.

From her first show in 1988 to her latest presentation, Fernanda Gomes treats each exhibition as a work of art in itself, creating ensembles of autonomous pieces and responding to a diversity of contexts and situations. Her work calls into question the very nature of presence, in movement, space, and time.” (Peter Freeman Inc.)

“This exhibition features painting and sculpture, playfully stretching its limits and possibilities. It also includes a light specific ensemble—a room built to produce an even light for a group of works that exist fully in relation to the light, the space, and to each other. This is the third ensemble she has made to remain as such, each one with unique qualities. Previous iterations have been shown at the Punta della Dogana in Venice (2016), and at Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo (2017), recently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York.” (Peter Freeman Inc.)

I’ll admit I had to stop and think about the piece below.

I recommend reading this Brooklyn Rail review which explains the exhibition quite well.

“Other collections with her work include the Art Institute of Chicago; Pérez Art Museum, Miami; Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; and Tate, London. Select solo museum exhibitions include the Vienna Secession (2019); Fundación Jumex, Mexico (2018); Museu da Cidade, Lisboa, Portugal (2012); Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (2011); and the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto (2006), which holds since 2009 a permanent sculpture in its park.” (Peter Freeman Inc.)

Make sure you read on Woman Seeking Art about the other Brazilian artist whose work I recently posted about, Beatriz Milhazes!