Paulo Nimer Pjota

I draw on the relationship between mundane objects and objects that are completely institutionalized. I am very interested in making it all uneven, with no present hierarchy.

– Paulo Nimer Pjota

The starting point of Paulo Nimer Pjota’s works is the nature of collectively originated phenomena. His research and practice focus on an in-depth study of a kind of popular iconography which can only develop through complex processes operated by numerous individuals. We can therefore think of his production as the representation of a plural and agitated dialogue, with ever-changing interpretations, running through multiple streams of consciousness.

The artist usually employs, large un-stretched canvases and sheets that incorporate detailed renderings of plants, vases, isolated words, cartoon and historical characters.

He creates overarching tales within the tension between the freedom of random choice and the precision of a meticulous composition, combining representations in a constellation of suspended bodies. This is when art history and mass culture go hand in hand, as well as universal canons and symbols, everyday banalities and regional themes. More than anything, he is interested in the processes and mechanisms that produce, edit and disseminate human expressions during a time that is dominated by the internet and ultra-communication. Through rhythm, rhyme and repetition, images arise, which index the common perceptions of a globalized planet and, consequently, expose deep inequalities. Questioning the way in which we formulate information and distribute our affections, configuring our sensibilities towards our surroundings and promoting hither to unthinkable possibilities of social interaction.

Paulo Nimer Pjota (b. 1988, São José do Rio Preto, Brazil) lives and works in São Paulo.

His most recent solo exhibitions include Na Boca do Sol, Mendes Wood DM, New York (2024); Do cômico e do trágico, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2023); Every Empire Breaks Like a Vase, The Power Station, Dallas (2021); Cenas de Casa, Caixa de Pandora, Ivani e Jorge Yunes Collection, São Paulo (2019); Medley, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2018); The history in repeat mode — image, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2017); The history in repeat mode — symbol, Maureen Paley / Morena di Luna, Hove (2017).

Additionally, his work has been included in institutional group exhibitions such as 38º Panorama de Arte Brasileira: 1000°, Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM-SP), São Paulo (2024); Private Passion - New Acquisitions in the Astrup Fearnley Collection, Astrup Fearnley, Oslo (2019); Trouble in Paradise, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam (2019); Sea of Desire, Fondation Carmignac, Porquerolles (2018); Going it is own way, KRC Collection, Voorschoten (2018); The Marvellous Cacophony, Biennal of Contemporary Art Belgrade, Serbia (2018); O Triângulo Atlântico, 11ª Bienal de Artes Visuais do Mercosul, Porto Alegre (2018); Painting |or| Not, The KaviarFactory, Lofoten (2017); Soft Power, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort (2016); 19º Sesc_Videobrasil, São Paulo (2015); Here There, Qatar Museums – Al Riwaq, Doha (2015); Imagine Brazil, Astrup Feranley Museet, Oslo (2013) / DHC/Art Foundation for Contemporary, Montreal (2015); 12 Biennale de Lyon, Lyon (2013).

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