Larissa de Souza

Biography

Larissa De Souza (b. 1995, Sao Paulo, BR) is a self-taught artist based in Sao Paulo, Brazil whose work investigates issues of ancestry, identity and memory.

 

De Souza’s work often returns to her experiences growing up in a community of Black women, many of whom (including her mother and grandmother) were from Northeastern Brazil. Often resembling family portraits or clippings of photo albums, these works depict exchanges of affection, motherhood, and everyday domesticity that evoke the artist’s experiences, both real and imagined. Through these works, De Souza aims to preserve her memories on canvas, resisting the historical erasure of the Afro-Brazilian population while also crafting new narratives of what it means to be a Black woman in Brazil.

 

Motifs such as cashew trees reference the traditions of Afro-diasporic people and establish connections between De Souza’s figures and spiritual world. Disembodied hands emerging from the edges of her canvases, unseen by the characters within the scene, operate as omniscient symbols of guidance and blessing. Far from a strictly religious narrative, the artist finds faith within simple everyday objects including the embroidery, pearls, and shells that she uses to embellish the surface of her mixed media works.

 

De Souza has exhibited widely within Brazil and internationally. Her work has been presented at public institutions including the Museum of Art of Rio de Janeiro; the Sao Paulo Museum of Modern Art; and Tomie Ohtake Institue, Sao Paulo. Her first solo exhibition opened in 2021 at the Hoa Tour Gallery in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Albertz Benda will be presenting her works at the 2022 Armory Fair followed by solo presentations in New York and Los Angeles planned for 2023.

Works
Exhibitions
Art Fairs
Publications
News
Press
CV

LARISSA DE SOUZA 

B.1995, São Paolo, Brazil

Currently lives and works in São Paolo, Brazil

 

COLLECTIONS

Museu de Arte de Rio, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Museum of Modern Art, São Paolo, Brazil

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024             Larissa de Souza, albertz benda, Los Angeles, CA

                        (forthcoming)

 

2023             Walls That Tell Histories, albertz benda, New York, NY

 

2021              Pertencimento, Hoa Tour Gallery, São Paolo, Brazil

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023              SESC Pompéia, São Paulo, Brazil (forthcoming)

                         Black Art and Thought, Sesc Belenzinho, São Paulo, 

                         Brazil (forthcoming)

                         Summer LA Group Show, The Pit, Los Angeles, CA

                         (forthcoming)

                         Do You See Me?, albertz benda, Los Angeles, CA

 

2022              Varios 22, curated by Lilia Scwarz, São Paolo, Brazil

                         SPArte Art Fair, Biennial of São Paolo, São Paolo, Brazil

                         Enciclopédia Negra, Museum of Art of Rio de Janeiro

                         (MAR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

                         Por muito tempo acreditei ter sonhado que era livre,

                         Tomie Ohtake Institute, São Paolo, Brazil

                         Histórias Brasileiras, Museum of Modern Art, São Paolo,

                         Brazil

 

2021              Internacional Hoa Annual Auction, With Casa Chama, 

                        South Kensington, London, UK

                        Arte Core, Casa Natura, São Paulo, Brazil

                        Water Marks: We Must Remember, Hoa Gallery, South 

                         Kensington, London, UK

                         SPArte Art Fair, Arca, Vila Leopoldina, São Paulo, Brazil

                         Aqui estou y mnatenho, Hoa Tour Gallery, SPArte, 

                         São Paulo, Brazil

 

AWARDS & RESIDENCIES 

2023               Finalist, PIPA Prize, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

                          Artist in Residence, Angola Air, Luanda, Angola