Suzana Mas

My work doesn't really come from a traditional painter's lineage; it's more of an investigation into structure and space. My biggest influences are names like Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, and Richard Serra—artists who didn’t care about representation, but focused on physical presence and the truth of the material.

Even though I work on canvas, my intellectual challenge is to treat painting almost like a two-dimensional sculpture. I don’t use color to simulate light or set a mood; I use it as a building block. My technique—using independent, pre-mixed tones applied side-by-side without any layering—is my way of bringing Judd’s logic to the flat plane. Where he used metal or acrylic sheets with intrinsic colors, I use blocks of paint.

Unlike orthodox minimalism, which aimed for total neutrality, I choose colors to grab your attention and pit them against each other. In my 'Dobradura' series (the Portuguese word for 'folding'), for example, I use exact chromatic choices to create a 'fold.' This creates a tension between what your mind recognizes as volume and what your eye identifies as a flat surface.

It’s a carefully planned illusion. I’m fascinated by how color, when handled with mathematical intent, can organize space and challenge...

Selected Artistic Formation

2003 | Contemporary Art Seminars – Project "8 Weeks of Art": Intensive theoretical immersion with leading figures of Brazilian Contemporary Art, including Nuno Ramos, Paulo Pasta, Waltércio Caldas, Leda Catunda, and Carlos Fajardo. Curated by renowned critics Paulo Sérgio Duarte, Lorenzo Mammì, and Agnaldo Farias.

2000 – 2001 | Advanced Visual Research with Carlos Fajardo:
Index and Spatial Occupation of the Body.
Return to the Real (Analysis of Hal Foster's theories).
Color and Surface: Structural Investigations.
The Transformation of Visual Arts in the 1960s.

2007 | International Symposium on Contemporary Art: University of São Paulo (USP / Paço das Artes & Centro Maria Antônia).

1991 – 1993 | Traditional Techniques: Watercolor with Afrânio Montemurro and Ceramic Studies with Cecilia Akemi at Estúdio Terra Fogo (São Paulo).

Academic Background

1996 | Post-Graduate Degree in Strategic Marketing: ESPM (Superior School of Advertising and Marketing), São Paulo.

1979 | BA in Social Communications; Advertising: PUC (Pontifical Catholic University), Campinas, São Paulo.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS and AWARDS

Publication

1980 – 1981 | Annuaire de l’Art International (Paris, France): Featured artist in the prestigious international art yearbook by Patrick Sermadiras. Work: "Equilíbrio" (Pen and Ink, 1977).

Awards & Recognitions

2003 | Studio Visit Selection – 8 Weeks of Art: Selected by Rodrigo Moura (Current Artistic Director of MALBA - Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires; former Chief Curator at El Museo del Barrio, NY, and curator at MASP and Inhotim) for a professional portfolio review and studio critique.

1985 | National Illustration Prize: 1st Place (National) in the Folha de S.Paulo Art Contest.

1977 | VI Contemporary Art Salon of Limeira: Gold Medal for Contemporary Art.

Solo Exhibitions

2016 – (Des)composição Harmônica: Sílvia Matos Creativity Atelier, São Paulo.

2015 – (Des)composição Harmônica:
Curitiba Creativity Center, Paraná.

2007 | Photographic Investigations: Lucca, Curitiba, PR.

1992 | Ceramic Structures: Estúdio Terra Fogo, São Paulo.

Group Exhibitions & Collective Projects

2015 | Antropoantro Collective (15th Anniversary): Invited Artist, Campinas, SP.

2004 | I Open Salon (Parallel to the São Paulo International Biennial) São Paulo.

2002 | Kairós – Antr...