Lucas Arruda

Kindly donated by the the artist and David Zwirner

Lucas Arruda's (b. 1983, Sao Paolo, Brazil) paintings are intricate, meditative compositions that blur the boundaries between mnemonic and imaginative registers. His evocative landscapes are more a product of a state of mind than depictions of particular locales. As he has noted, "The only reason to call my works landscapes is cultural—it’s simply that viewers automatically register my format as a landscape, although none of the images can be traced to a geographic location. It's the idea of landscape as a structure, rather than a real place."

Born in 1983 in São Paulo, Brazil, Arruda received his BFA from Faculdade Santa Marcelina, São Paulo, in 2009.  A solo exhibition of the artist's work, Lugar sem Lugar, was on view at Fundação Iberê Camargo, Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2021, and traveled to Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil, in 2022. The artist’s first large-scale institutional solo show, Deserto-Modelo, was on view at the Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, in 2019. The artist's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2021, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2010, and 2009); Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris (2018); Pivô, São Paulo (2015); Lulu, Mexico City (2015); Fredric Snitzer, Miami (2012); Centro Cultural São Paulo (2011); i-20 Gallery, New York (2011); and 713 Arte Contemporáneo, Buenos Aires (2010).

The artist’s first monograph was published in 2018 by Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris with texts by Fernanda Brenner, Chris Sharp, and Hans Ulrich Obrist. In 2020, David Zwirner Books published Arruda’s first comprehensive monograph, including texts by Will Chancellor and Barry Schwabsky. In 2022, the Fridericianum, Kassel published an accompanying catalogue to the artist's 2019 solo exhibition, with texts by Vincenzo de Bellis, Fernanda Brenner, Marlene Bürgi, Lilian Tone, Theodora Vischer, and Moritz Wesseler. 

Work by the artist was included in the recent group exhibitions Histórias Brasileiras at Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP), São Paulo, Brazil in 2022; and Secret Wing, Art Encounters Biennale, Timișoara, Romania in 2021. Arruda has participated in other group shows, including Natureculture, Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2021); Seismic Movements, Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2020); City Prince/sses, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2019); Luogo e Segni, Punta della Dogana, Venice (2019); Nature + Abstraction, Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2018); New Shamans/Novos Xamãs: Brazilian Artists, Rubell Family Collection, Miami (2016); and Kiti Ka’aeté, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2015), among others. In 2015, Arruda’s work was featured in the 1st International Biennial of Asunción, Cry of Liberty, Asunción, Paraguay, and, in 2013, his work was on view as part of La Bienal 2013, Here Is Where We Jump!, Museo del Barrio, New York.

The artist's work has been represented by the gallery since 2018. At David Zwirner, Paris, Lucas Arruda: Assum Preto was presented in 2022. Deserto-Modelo, which was on view in 2019, marked the artist’s second solo show with the gallery, following his 2017 exhibition in London. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Fondation Beyeler, Basel; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo; and Rubell Museum, Miami. Arruda lives and works in São Paulo.