Gomide&Co is pround to announce its participation in the third edition of the Independent 20th Century, New York. For this edition of the art fair, the gallery will present a two-person exhibition of Julia Isidrez (Paraguay, 1967) and Maria Lira (Brazil, 1945).
Julia Isidrez learned ceramics from her mother, Juana Marta Rodas (1925-2013), following a centuries-old Indigenous tradition in Paraguay that dates to pre-Columbian times. Drawing on the techniques of her Guarani ancestors, Isidrez’s sculpted vessels transcend function with their expressive vocabulary of whimsical animal figures rooted in the Paraguayan Chaco. Exhibiting with her mother from an early age, the artist’s work has been shown both in solo and group shows in Latin America, North America, Europe, and Asia. Currently, her works are being exhibited in the 60th edition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Adriano Pedrosa, and at Kasmin New York.
Based in Jequitinhonha Valley in Brazil, Maria Lira also developed an early interest in working with clay from observing her mother making nativity scenes. Since the 1980s, the artist has focused her practice on the Meus Bichos do Sertão series, mineral pigment paintings of imaginary animals that inhabit her inventive mind. She held her first exhibition in 1975 at Sesc Pompeia, São Paulo, and, since then, has exhibited in several national and international institutions in Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, France, and the United States. In 2024, the first institutional solo show dedicated to the artist's body of work, Roda dos bichos, curated by Paulo Miyada and assistant curator Sabrina Fontenele, was featured at Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo.
