Laís Amaral (b.1993)
Featured in 'Erasure' - Open 22 November 2025
In her first institutional exhibition in Europe, rising Brazilian artist Laís Amaral presents a series of mixed-media paintings that grapple with environmental collapse. Addressing desertification, water scarcity and the “whitening” of Brazilian territories, her practice is rooted in her background in social and environmental activism, drawing parallels between ecological destruction and cultural erasure.
Amaral’s non-figurative approach and signature ‘scraping technique’ - where she uses unconventional tools tied to body embellishment and grooming – are both an affirmation of her Afro-Brazilian identity and a celebration of multi-cultural existence. The resulting paintings are topographies in flux - part archaeology, part cartography – that echo the shifting landscapes, social bodies, and cultural memories at the heart of her practice.
Artist
Winter Exhibition 2025
Coinciding with the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), taking place in November 2025 in the Amazonian city of Belém, Amaral will be shown alongside fellow Brazilian artist Solange Pessoa in The Gallery.
Her practice also connects to the legacy of Hélio Oiticica, whose ‘Magic Square’ is soon to be unveiled at the Foundation. Amaral participated in a 2019 residency at the Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica in Rio de Janeiro, during which she helped expand the Trovoa collective into the ‘National Trovoa’ - a network uniting racialised artists across Brazil through exhibitions, performances and critical dialogue.
About the artist
Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, self-trained artist Laís Amaral began her artistic journey with the 2017 cofounding of Trovoa, a collective in Niterói, Brazil. The group, known for hands-on artistic practices, experimented with various mediums and discussed race, gender and social issues, reflecting their experiences as racialized women in Brazilian society. Identifying as an “artist-artisan” a term influenced by her family background and experiences with Trovoa, Amaral currently focuses on painting. Her work explores themes of contemporary environmental collapse, particularly desertification and the phenomenon of “whitening” in Brazilian territories. She draws parallels between these landscapes and the internal struggles of individuals facing social and economic challenges.
Amaral’s work is influenced by her personal experiences and Brazil’s socio-political landscape, addressing issues like environmental degradation and racial and gender identity. Through her art, Amaral seeks to uncover and communicate underlying stories, fostering dialogue around these critical themes.
This will be Amaral’s first major institutional presentation in Europe, in line with Goodwood Art Foundation’s ambition to show new work in a new setting. Before now, she has participated in several gallery and institutional presentations, including MAM Rio and Centro Cultural Sao Paulo.
Artist
Winter Exhibition 2025
