LEDA CATUNDA
Dedinhos (Little fingers), 2023
Acrylic and enamel with fabric and voile, enamel on wood
29 1/8 x 22 7/8 in (74 x 58 cm)
(LC1031)
Leda Catunda (b. 1961, Sao Paulo, Brazil; lives and works
in São Paulo) creates deeply personal works that engage
with popular culture. Using textiles originally intended as
curtains, clothing, or sheets, Catunda paints, cuts, layers,
and arranges them into complex, haptic surfaces. Her
recurring vocabulary of serial forms —tongues, tears, and
insect shells—posit a connection between the seemingly
infinite reduplication found in nature and the commercial
realm.
In September 2025, a survey exhibition of Catunda’s work,
curated by Hoor Al-Qasimi, will open at the Sharjah Art
Foundation. The exhibition will travel to HALLE FÜR KUNST
Steiermark in Graz, Austria in 2026.
Her inclusion in Como Vai Você, Geração 80?, a watershed
group show at Parque Lage Visual Art School in Rio de
Janeiro in 1984, cemented Catunda’s pivotal position in
Brazilian contemporary art and ushered in a revitalization
in painting. She has participated in four São Paulo Biennials
(1983, 1985, 1994 and 2018). Retrospectives and surveys
of her work have also been held at ICA Milan, Milan, Italy
(2023); Pinoteca do Estado de São Paulo (2009); Museu
Oscar Niemeyer, Rio de Janeiro, and Museo de Arte Moderna
(MAM Rio), Rio de Janeiro (2014); Instituto Tomie Ohtake,
São Paulo (2016); São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM),
São Paulo (2019), and the Museu de Arte Latino Americano
de Buenos Aires (MALBA), Buenos Aires (2021).
