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Fruits that resemble organs, landscapes that look like mutating organisms, and drawings that suggest transforming bodies make up the universe that will be presented by Maria Luiza Mazzetto at the Badesc Cultural Foundation. In“The Cord and the Peduncle"The artist's first exhibition at the institution features 11 works that employ different techniques to explore encounters between nature, the body, and biological fiction. The opening will be at 19 pm and admission is free."
The exhibition, selected in the 2026 Exhibition Call for Proposals, brings together drawings made with colored markers, graphite and watercolor, objects manufactured in biscuit dough, 1:1 scale photography and two short stop-motion animations.
The exhibition's starting point is the photograph "The Cord and the Peduncle," in which avocado pits are brought close to the artist's belly, creating a visual resemblance between parts of human and plant bodies. From this image, Maria Luiza imagines enclosed landscapes where bulbs, wings, fruits, and leaves intertwine with marine species and invented beings. The work addresses the proximity between animals and plants, the cycles of feeding and decomposition, and also the artificiality present in contemporary life: from pesticides to dyes, from preservatives to genetic modification.
The artist also observes the tension between beauty and risk. “The most beautiful fruit is the most 'poisoned,' the most vibrantly colored fish is the easiest prey for the predator, the most sensual humans are the ones who fall ill through contagion, and those with the most vital energy and vigor are the ones who venture out and take the most risks,” she shares.
The exhibition, which will also feature a critical text by curator Marcio Harum, who has followed the artist's recent work, may open itself to diverse reflections and multiple interpretations.
About the artist:
Maria Luiza Mazzetto was born in Ribeirão Preto in 1977. She lives and works in São Paulo. Her practice explores a fictional universe about the living natural world. These are constructions or appropriations of scenes that may allude to arrangements, forests, seabeds, or the interiors of living organisms. In these scenes she creates, she seeks both the sensual and the abject aspects of what she sees and records. The body of work addresses the body, its growth, transformation, deterioration, finitude, decomposition, and "becoming" in a world where the natural coexists with the artificial, with the manipulated—an uncertain and ambiguous world.
She has participated in several exhibitions at museums, such as SARP, the Jataí Museum, the MARP exhibition program, the "Raios e Ramos" exhibition at the Mario de Andrade Library, among other group exhibitions in independent spaces and galleries. She has held 8 solo exhibitions, the most notable of which is "Dentro do Corpo," held during the Paço das Artes project season in 2019.
She graduated in architecture, studied art history with Renata Pedrosa, illustration with Laura Teixeira, Fernando Vilela and Odilon Moraes, and read and wrote about her creative process with Nancy Betts, Márcio Harum, Paulo Gallina, Sandra Lapage and Carlos Pileggi. She participated in project mentoring groups with Monica Rubinho, Sydnei Philocreon and at Hermes Artes Visuais.
Start: 20/08/2026 19:00
End: 08/10/2026 19:00
Values: free admission.
Opening: August 20th, starting at 19 PM.
Visiting hours are until October 8th, Monday to Friday, from 13 PM to 19 PM, and from 10 AM to 16 PM on Saturdays.
