Rhythm-driven: how music shapes the works of Beatriz Milhazes

In this video, Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes discusses the impact of music on her visual style.

Born in 1960, Milhazes’ work swirls with geometric and arabesque shapes, inspired by both indigenous Brazilian and Modernist European design elements.

Renowned for her vibrant aesthetic, rooted in painting, collage and printmaking, she draws on her native Rio de Janeiro for inspiration. Other than the influence of local music – for example Brazil’s bossa nova – her use of colour and geometry is mined from place: the botanical gardens and the Tijuca forest near her studio, the surrounding city, its ocean front and the cultural motifs of Brazil.

“I need to have all these elements and put them together, [they] are not peaceful surfaces,” she has said of her creations. “There should be some struggle on the surface, [to] create some activities for your eyes.”

Today, her works are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Reina Sofia National Museum in Madrid, and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, among others.

View the original video here.

Good Living is the Cyprus Mail’s portal of curated content from across the internet, showcasing local and global ideas, cultural highlights, and scientific and technological developments to inspire a sustainable life.