INTERVIEW WITH BEATRIZ MILHAZES
WITH BEATRIZ MILHAZES IN PARIS Our interview with the Rio de Janeiro-based artist Beatriz Milhazes (*1960) in Paris was the result of a long correspondence. The vivid exchange, which started with Márcia de Moraes of Galeria Fortes Vilaça—Milhazes' representative in Brazil—, continued with the artist's assistant Tereza Lyrio. We would like to thank both for their interest and support. The interview which we had initially planned to conduct in Brazil—as this would have given us an opportunity to see the artist's solo exhibition in Galeria Fortes Vilaça and retrospective in Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo—eventually took place at an apartment in Paris that belonged to a French Beatriz Milhazes, Paris diplomat couple. On January 18, we met in the living room of this flat, with a French balcony facing a bright courtyard. The first impression we had during our meeting with Beatriz Milhazes was that she was as bright, cheerful, and positive as her paintings. During the three-hour interview, Milhazes answered our questions in all her sincerity, giving us detailed information about her life and art. RES wishes the artist all the best for her upcoming exhibition to be held in February 2009 at Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain in Paris and her future projects. We also asked Milhazes who spends part of her time in Paris every year if she paints there, too. 'No. I need to be at home and see the brightness in my garden to be able to paint,' she answered. RES Let’s start from the very beginning. How and when did you start your career? BEATRIZ MILHAZES I started at a very young age. My mother was an art historian and taught at the university. So it was quite normal that I wanted to get a degree in something other than art. That was the reason why I first wanted to be a journalist. But in my sophomore year at the university, I realized that journalism was not my thing. It turned out to be something I didn’t like. And since my mother had always been involved in the art world, she asked me why I wouldn't try art school. Now, in those times, we had this one academy of art. But it was a very academic and conservative institution. And there was this free school of art. It was the best option if you were young and wanted to make art. So I enrolled in this art school when I was 20 years old and I really felt that this was in fact what I wanted to do. After studying at the school for about three years I left it when I was 23 and I opened my studio. RES That was in 1982? RES MAY 2008
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