Patricia Leite

From that reading, from the landscape, in my own way, I opened up an immense horizon for my work. And so I continue until nowadays, working with what I call “sensations of landscapes”, or “diaries of my life”. The things I look at and I say “hey, I'm looking at this, I'm going to photograph it with my painting and it's going to be an interesting image”.

– Patricia Leite

Navigating various references, Patricia Leite gives an outlet to her memories and latent affections through an extremely peculiar pictorial exercise. Bucolic scenes from trips or images extracted from videos that caught her attention trigger a process towards paintings that come into existence in a rare combination between seriousness and leniency. In her cohesive body of work, we find recurring echoes and resonances from themes and styles that are well represented in the history of art, such as landscape painting and pop art elements. However, these resources are always used as a support to express intimate manifestations that could be in a diary or in a map with organically collected and carefully edited images.

Vibrating between abstraction and figuration, her artworks deal with the movement from a solid state to an inconstant moment. While her use of large colour blocks on the absorbingly-rigid wood put us in front of imposing planes, on the other, everything that is there cannot be fully, let alone definitively, defined. Rather, what we have is an opening of light that outlines everything whilst leaving room for us to witness its constant transformations. We see the emergence of points of contact – that are always inexact – between the ethereal and matter.

From striking colours such as avocado green and solid tones of blue, to graphic frugality, the artist chooses her building blocks to portray the world in different levels of intensity. Behind her choices lies her desire to get closer to singular atmospheres and to touch sensations that surface from visual experiences, such as basking in the sun in Minas Gerais, watching a carnival parade or contemplating nightfall on the beach.

Patricia Leite (b. 1955, Belo Horizonte, Brazil) lives and works in São Paulo.

Some of the artist's solo exhibitions include: Paisagem de Lenda, Thomas Dane Gallery, London (2024); Mantiqueira, Mendes Wood DM, New York (2022); Caninana, Thomas Dane Gallery, London (2021); Vamos chamar o vento, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2020); Patricia Leite, The Arts Club, London (2019); Olha pro céu, meu amor, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2018); Saudades do Brasil, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2015); Contra o Céu, Nara Roesler, São Paulo (2009); Outra Praia, Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte (2005).

Additionally, her work was included in group shows such as: Galáxias, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2024); Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato en conversation avec Lucas Arruda, Sanam Khatibi, Patricia Leite, Paula Siebra, Marcos Siqueira, Erika Verzutti et Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Mendes Wood DM, Paris (2024); Dreaming of Spilliaert, Mendes Wood DM at d’Ouwe Kerk, Retranchement (2024); Linhas Tortas, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2023); Esfingico Frontal, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2023); Calor Universal, Pace Gallery, New York (2022); Days of Inertia, Mendes Wood DM at d’Ouwe Kerk, Retranchement (2021); Prelude: Melancholy of the Future, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Sint-Martens-Latem (2020); Terra Trema, Thomas Dane, Naples (2019); Nightfall, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2018); Mínimo, múltiplo, comum, Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo (2018); Aprendendo Com Dorival Caymmi - Civilização Praieira, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo (2016).

Her works are in numerous permanent collections, such as Pinault Collection, Paris; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo; Fiorucci Art Trust, London; Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Viena; Cranford Collection, London; Loewe Collection, Madrid; Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte.