Caetanópolis, Brazil, 1948.
Lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil.
Sonia Gomes’ work binds together cultural movements and traditions that are intrinsically linked to the affirmation of memory, identity and the transformative power of creation in situations of vulnerability and invisibility. Through the use of fabric, thread, found and gifted objects, her multi-dimensional, sometimes biomorphic sculptures and structures stand as insistent placeholders for the absent or unseen body. These gestural inquiries refer to the body itself, as a way to decolonize the past and reclaim the present to reconstitute and celebrate both the self and her black heritage.
Sonia Gomes’ work binds together cultural movements and traditions that are intrinsically linked to the affirmation of memory, identity and the transformative power of creation in situations of vulnerability and invisibility. Through the use of fabric, thread, found and gifted objects, her multi-dimensional, sometimes biomorphic sculptures and structures stand as insistent placeholders for the absent or unseen body. These gestural inquiries refer to the body itself, as a way to decolonize the past and reclaim the present to reconstitute and celebrate both the self and her black heritage.
Her compositions stem from a spontaneous and casual practice of deconstructing and re-assembling everyday objects. Expressionist-like organic forms emerge, which invariably lead to the vision of a pulsating life, made from the combination of different experiences and memories. Gomes designs meticulous contortions with fabric, each seam or fold stemming from vernacular procedures aimed at transcending the notion of the popular, combining the naive (as a result of an informal and self-taught background) and the erudite (in line with a rigorous gaze and gesture). Within the entanglement of memories and intuitive materializations, biographies find escape routes in a tactile and organic way, experimenting with new and vibrant ways of existing.
Her solo exhibitions include Lagrima, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2021); I Rise – I’m a Black Ocean, Leaping and Wide, Museum Frieder Burda and Salon Berlin, Baden-Baden/Berlin (2019); Silence of color, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2019); Still I Rise, MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo / Casa de Vidro, São Paulo (2018); A vida renasce, sempre, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Rio de Janeiro (2018). Her work has been include in the following shows Gwangju Biennial, Gwangju, Korea (2021); Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK (2021); Unconscious Landscape – Works from the Ursula Hauser Collection, Hauser & Wirth, Somerset (2019); Experimenting with Materiality, Lévy Gorvy, Zurich (2019); Histórias Afro-Atlânticas, MASP, São Paulo (2018); O Triângulo Atlântico, 11ª Bienal de Artes Visuais do Mercosul, Porto Alegre (2018); Tissage, Tressage, Fondation Villa Datris, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (2018); Entangled, Turner Contemporary, Margate (2017); Revival, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, USA (2017); 56ª Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2015).
Education
– Visual Arts, Guignard School
1997
– Contemporary Art Teacher: Ronan Couto (UEMG), Brazil
1996
– Contemporary Art Teacher: Angelica Melendi (Pitt) (UEMG), Brazil
1995
– Creativity, Teacher: Sara Avila (UEMG), Brazil
Solo Exhibitions
2014
-“Nascer Uma Vez Após a Outra”, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brazil
2012
-“Stitch In Time”, Mendes Wood DM, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2011
-“O ritmo da linha”, Espaço cultural Fórum Lafayette, Lafayette, Brazil
2009
-“Quando a linha cria asas…”, Art Gallery of CEMIG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2008
-“Um Lugar”, BDMG Cultural, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2005
-“Serie Patuás e Torções”, Galeria Thomas Cohn, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2004
-“Objetos”, Sandra & Marcio, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
1994
-“Pinturas”, Casa de Cultura de Sete Lagoas, Brazil
Group Exhibitions
2016
-“Histórias/Histories: Contemporary Art From Brazil”, USF Contemporary Art Museum, Florida, USA
2015
-“No Man’s Land: Women Artists From The Rubell Family Collection”, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, EUA
-“All the World’s Futures”, 56 Biennale di Venezia, Venezia, Italy
-“19th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Video Brasil: Southern Panoramas”, Associação Cultural Video Brasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil
-“The Poetry in Between: South to South”, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2014
-“Made By…Feito por Brasileiros”, Cidade Matarazzo, São Paulo, Brazil
2013
-“A Nova Mão Afro-Brasileira”, Museu Afro Brasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil
-“Art & Textiles – Fabric as Material and Concet in Modern Art”, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
-“Out of Fashion. Textile in International Contemporary Art”, Kunsten – Museum of Modern Art Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark
2012
-“Alphabet of The Magi”, Mendes Wood DM, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2011
-“Meditation Trance”, Mendes Wood DM, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1995
-“Mostra dos Alunos da Escola Guignard”, Câmara Municipal, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2008
-“Impulsos”, Galeria Emma Thomas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
-“Oferenda”, Galeria Rhys Mendes, Jardim Canadá, Brazil
2007
-“Ressonâncias@rtesnegr(as)”, Centro de Artes e Convenções de UFOP, Ouro Preto, Brazil
2006 – 2007
-“Brasil Imaginário”, Estação São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2006 – 2007
-“Etsuko Kobayashi et Sonia Gomes”, Edgard Gallery, Paris, France
2006
-X Bienal Nacional de Santos, Santos, Brazil
-“Encontro com a Arte”, XLVII Encontro do BID, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2005
-“Chita Bacana”, SESC Belenzinho, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2003
-“Mostra Fim de Ano”, Celma Albuquerque Gallery, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
1998 – 1999
-III e IV Mostra da Escola Guignard, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
1998
-“Processos Tridimensionais”, Casa da Saudade, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
1997
-V Salão de Artes Plásticas de Vespasiano, Brasil
1997
-“Expressões de Minas”, Casa de Minas, São Paulo, Brazil
1996 – 1997
-I Mostra Alunos Escola Guignard, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Collections
-MAR – Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
-Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA
-Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil
