Adriana Varejão

This is an artist whose work I stumbled across some time ago. I saved an image or two and then forgot to follow up. So when I came across it again, I knew I'd better post it right away before I forgot again.
The main body of her work consists of these empty baths and saunas. I have no idea whether or not each piece represents a real place or not. At times they appear so cryptically labyrinthine that their existence in reality seems doubtful. Whatever the case, the geometric lines of the space and the graph-paper like lines of the tiling give the work a cold and calculated presence. But they are deeply psychological interiors as well. Her use of color can add warmth or suck it away. And the occasional relic of a human presence, a stain of blood, a clump of hair, adds a dark disturbing note. The title of each piece often suggests a particular person, a character or perhaps merely a type. But it further heightens the psychological aspect of the work. She hails from Rio De Janeiro but has been successful enough to have had shows recently in Tokyo, New York and this year, London. So congratulations Adriana.
She does a lot of other work aside from painting and it's well worthwhile taking a visual stroll through her website: www.adrianavarejao.net
















"The Dreamer" oil on canvas 170x230cm 2006


















"The Hungarian" oil on canvas 200x255cm 2006















"The Guest" oil on canvas 45x70cm 2004











"The Seducer" oil on canvas 230x530cm 2004










"The Shining" oil on canvas 230x560cm 2009
















"The Wicked" graphite on paper 70x100cm 2009