Paloma Bosquê

In between senses and matter, lies a tension which holds things together. Within this gap I build a shelter. – Paloma Bosquê

Paloma Bosquê’s research draws largely on her daily practice in the studio. There she handles and freely associates materials that are not typical of sculpture, creating compositions of varying formats and scales. In a constant search for a possible and consensual balance between her selected elements, the artist often develops specific methods to combine, juxtapose and merge materials without ever forcing them to a definitive interaction.

Brass, felt, bronze, coal, gum rosin, bee’s wax, beef casing, craft paper, coffee sieves and wool are used indiscriminately by the artist. She is less concerned with the origins or potential symbolic value of each of the items than with their physical presence. Experimenting with the texture, weight and balance of her materials, Bosquê creates an extremely delicate visual landscape.

Each composition is an arrangement of singular materials. Felt and looms are handmade and tailored to the artist’s choices, coffee sieves hold the traces of their former use and sheepskins are never the same. Bosquê focuses on the transience of matter and impermanence. Her works remind us of the fragility of the agreements that hold together everything we consider permanent or definitive.

Paloma Bosquê (b. 1982, Garça, Brazil) lives and works in Brussels.

Her most recent solo exhibitions include at Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2024); Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2022); Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2020); Blum and Poe, Tokyo (2020); Mendes Wood DM, New York (2019); Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2018); Museu da Cidade, Lisbon (2017); Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2016); Pivô, São Paulo (2015).

Additionally, her work has been included in institutional group exhibitions at Hayward Gallery, London (2024); Fondation Thalie, Brussels (2024); Mendes Wood DM at d'Ouwe Kerk, Retranchement (2022); Pivô, São Paulo (2021); PAC – Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea, Milan (2018); Bienal de Arte Contemporânea de Coimbra, Coimbra (2017); Pivô, São Paulo (2016); Pivô, São Paulo (2016); The Jewish Museum, New York (2016); Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (2015).