New York’s Alexander Gray Associates has taken on representation of Valeska Soares, a Brazilian artist known for her pioneering work in the field of installation art. Soares will have a solo show with the gallery in October, which will coincide with a mid-career survey of her work at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art held in conjunction with the J. Paul Getty Museum as part of the city-wide Los Angeles showcase Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA.
Since the early 1990s, Soares has created an expansive body of work that is disparate in form but related in terms of function. Drawing on found objects often involving text or domestic in nature, as well as her own sculpted forms, Soares creates work that forges new connections to otherwise familiar sights, sounds, and smells. Her work is held in permanent public collections at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.; New York’s Guggenheim Museum; Museu de Arte Moderna in Rio de Janeiro; Museu de Arte Contemporânea in São Paulo; and London’s Tate Modern.
“The poetic approach that she has to object-making speaks to the human experience and has resonated with me for decades,” Alexander Gray, the eponymous gallery’s owner, told ARTnews. “One of the wonderful challenges with her work is that it’s hard to put it into a clear, sequential order. While her strategies are really diverse, the work itself is consistent in its impact.”
Gray continued: “Each work is a huge onion—there are many layers to peel.”
