Gomide&Co is pleased to present, for the third edition of ArPa, a solo show by Nilda Neves featuring a new set of purposely created works, based on the artist’s most recent visit to her hometown in Botuporã, in the Brazilian state of Bahia. Besides looking back on where she came from, Neves’ new series of paintings highlights her sensitive eye for geological formations and petroglyphs, showcasing the results of her incursion into the Torrinha and Lapa Doce caves, two major Brazilian cave tourism destinations in Iraquara, a town in the Chapada Diamantina area.
Nilda Neves is best known for her paintings, which pay homage to the sertão [backlands] of Bahia by intertwining personal memories, family narratives, and elements of local nature and folklore. Born in 1961 in Patos, a rural community in Botuporã where she lived until the age of 21, Neves has lived in several cities throughout Bahia, spent a short time in São Paulo, and currently lives in rural Camanducaia, Minas Gerais. Even though she has lived elsewhere for over 30 years, Neves’ place of origin has always remained the main inspiration for her work.
This new series of paintings by Nilda Neves was sparked by a trip to the countryside that was also a reconnection with her own roots and memories, presenting more than just a traveler’s view of natural beauty, but a testimony that in its own way promotes the cultural safeguarding of the Bahia backlands. “These are things from my sertão that I wanted to see so that I could remember,” says the artist.