Regina Silveira

Silveira established herself as an artist during under the military dictatorship in the 1970s, creating ephemeral conceptual works such as videos, pamphlets and mail art. She "subverted expected meanings through paradox and enigma with the aim of destabilizing perception". In the 1980s she began working with skiagraphia (shadow art) in installations, creating "a disorienting experience that highlights the space between presence and absence". Her art images use installation printmaking in conceptual ways. Silveira's early paintings were site-specific on walls, which then developed into illusions that incorporate digitally produced images in walls and rooms. Silveira has used printmaking to explore the impact of distortion with confrontational shadow images. Silveira's work centers around the idea that there is a tension between movement and the spatial perspective of an individual, which allows her to interpret her ideas and themes in whatever format she chooses; sometimes she likes to tie in political connotations in order to give a deeper meaning to her work. In Absentia (1983), was presented at the 17th Biennial in São Paulo. The work, two silhouettes of two of Marcel Duchamp's "readymades" filled the room with shadows in deformed perspectives missing the source of the objects with empty pedestals. Silveira's visual vocabulary explores the Simulacros between absence and presence using shadows, footprints, and tire tracks. Silveira has had many international installations. She is known for her novel uses of museum and gallery spaces and for her installations in empty office spaces in Houston, Texas. She also works with light, and the absence of light (shadows). Her exploration of shadow and light and how that relates to objects are implied and engulfing to the viewer. She likes how shadows are intangible and therefore are in nature a very moldable part of her work that can be intentionally distorted and allow a certain image to only be viewed when looked at from a unique angle. Her work explores whether something is present or absent. For example, Desaparencia, from YEAR, depicts an easel and stool using dotted lines which indicates that although they are present as the piece of art, they are not actually present in the scene. Silveira is represented by the Sicardi Gallery in Houston, Texas. She resides and works in São Paulo, Brazil.

Celeção Itaú, São Paulo, Brazil Celeção SECS, São Paulo, Brazil Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA, US Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Museum of Modern Art, New York Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, New York, NY, US Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, TX, US Museo de Arte Contemporânea de Buenos Aires, Argentina Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, US Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY, US

In recent years, Regina Silveira has won several awards for her work. This list is not exhaustive, but includes many awards between the years of 1983 and 2013. 1985 Bolsa de Pesquisa, Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa, Brazil 1987 Bolsa de Pesquisa, Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa, Brazil 1988 Melhor Instalação 1987, Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil Premio Lei Sarney à Cultura Brasileira: Gravura, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil 1990 The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship 1993 Art Studio Grant, The Banff Centre, Banff, Canada Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, NY 1994 Fulbright Foundation, Washington, DC 1996 Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship, Civitella Ranieri Center, Umbertide, Italia 2000 Gran Premio Del Grabado Latinoamericano: Medalla de Oro, Primera Bienal Argentina de Gráfica Latinoamericana, Buenos Aires, Argentina Prêmio Cultural Sergio Motta para Arte e Tecnologia, Voto Popular, São Paulo, Brazil 2004 Claraluz, Melhor Exposição do Ano, Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil 2007 Mundus Admirabilis, Prêmio Bravo de Artes Plásticas, São Paulo, Brazil 2011 Tramazul, Great Art Critics Award, São Paulo Art Critics Association, São Paulo, Brazil 2012 Award for Life and Work, Brazilian Art Critics Association, Brazil 2013 Prêmio pelo conjunto da obra, Prêmio MASP Mercedes-Benz, São Paulo, Brazil