Brazilian artist, environmentalist and visionary, Denise Milan, has been an enriching part of my personal and professional life for over twenty-five years. We met in São Paulo during the 1989 São Paulo Biennale when, as Executive Director of the Jamaica Arts Center, the community based arts organization in New York, I led an enthusiastic group of art lovers to São Paulo to attend the opening of our installation of sculpture by Martin Puryear, the official U.S. representative to this prestigious international exhibition.
It was during this visit to São Paulo that a budding acquaintance with Denise was spawned. I was drawn to her work and a world of discovery that she presented to me through her stone constructs and the multilayered tableaus that resonated throughout her installations in São Paulo. When asked to describe her body of work, Denise said, "she uses the stone as the creative axis and inspiration for her work." I should add that the breath of her output since I have followed her includes: public art, performing arts, poetry, printmaking and video. She is a driven artist.
Our connections, deepened through the decades, have resulted in collaborations on projects in the U.S. that have included a major stone sculptural permanent installation - America's Courtyard - on the lakefront near the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, a photographic exhibition Mist of the Earth at the Chicago Cultural Center, and recently presented at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.
Denise has been absorbed and challenged by the topography of Brazil. Its often hidden history - the Atlantic Forest, and Salvador de Bahia - have spurred her research into the essence of its treasures and threats. During her photographic treks through the Atlantic Forest and interaction with indigenous peoples who are struggling to survive, she was compelled to share these images and experiences with the world.
Manuela Mena, Senior Curator of 18th Century Painting at Museo National del Prado summarizes the exhibition, "Denise Milan presents the Atlantic Forest as the vision of a fascinating world seen through the artist's eyes and imagination. The photos, taken over the course of several years at Cairucu, near Paraty, of the jungle, have been used in a process of metamorphosis going deeply beyond the species appearance, to an understanding of the intimate fusion between nature and its inhabitants."
It was in and round Paraty, a colonial enclave, where a few years ago I observed the essence of this paradise. When I was a guest at her beach house I found the spectacular magical setting inspirational and touchable. A Lonely Planet tour guide narrative describes Paraty: "set amid jutting peninsulas and secluded beaches with a backdrop of steep, jungled mountains plunging into an island studded bay."
Pat Johnson
Grannies on Safari
