Current exhibition: Visions from the Amazon

Black and white photograph by Claudia Andujar — Image: Claudia Andujar, Garota sendo iniciada (1976) Courtesy Galeria Vermelho

Free exhibition at Peltz Gallery
43 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD

14 February - 9 April 2025

Weekdays 10am-8pm

Opening reception: Thursday 13 February, 6-8pm - Book tickets for the reception.

The Amazon rainforest is as much a site of abundance as it is a site of destruction and resource-related disputes. It spans around 4.2 million square kilometers, covering 49% of Brazil's territory, and is characterised by complex hydrological, geological, and ecological environments that provide a home to around 22 million people, spanning urban centres and isolated Indigenous settlements. The Amazon is also a complex system in which humans and more-than-human entities coexist, shaping through their combined agency the art produced in the region.

Visions from the Amazon focuses on life-giving elements of the forest, such as water, light, and arboreal presences. Stemming from the doctoral research of Patricia Bonchristiano, and developed in collaboration with Erika Zerwes and Peltz Gallery, the exhibition brings together photography, painting, and film as a visual exploration of entanglements between artistic production and the living and non-living inhabitants of the forest.

In the past decades Claudia Andujar's images of Indigenous communities and her work as an environmental activist have brought global attention to the region. Visions from the Amazon features her photographs alongside artworks by lesser-known and younger artists, showcasing the paintings of rubber tapper Hélio Melo; photographs by Indigenous artists Denilson Baniwa and Tayná Satere; and photographs and films by Paula Sampaio, Luciana Magno, and Nay Jinknss, who live in the Amazon's urban areas, together with the images of São Paulo-based Rosa Gauditano. Their art articulates the intricate relationships between human and more-than-human elements in the forest, revealing the interconnected and multifaceted nature of the region as well as the importance that ecological activism has come to play in creative practice. Alongside the efforts of Indigenous communities, activist groups, and international organisations, these images contribute towards raising environmental and social awareness about the importance of defending and protecting forest life.

Supported by the Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS) and Birkbeck's Centre for Iberian and Latin American Visual Studies (CILAVS).

With special thanks to Peltz Gallery staff and to those who kindly agreed to lend their works for the exhibition, including private collectors and the artists Paula Sampaio, Rosa Gauditano, Luciana Magno, Tayná Satere and the late Jorge Nazaré.