Sergio Lucena (João Pessoa, PB, 1963)
Lives and works in São Paulo. He studied Physics and Psychology in the Universidade Federal da Paraíba. During the 1980s, he dedicates himself to researching and studying painting and drawing. He participated in art salons, being awarded in Funarte's Salão Nacional de Artes Plásticas, at the MAM-RJ. His first works dealt with a fantastical figuration, presenting hybrid and mystical beings, in which he already explored his main subjects: color and light. In 1991, he participated in the workshop organized by Deutsch-Brasilianische Kulturelle Vereinigung, in Berlin, where, in the following year, he attended an artistic residency program, and integrated the exhibition “Alemanha Hoje” (Germany Today), curated by Frau Müller, at the Laden Galerie. In 2005, he attended the international workshop organized by the Remisen Akademi, in Brande, Denmark.
The encounter between the luminosity of the Nordic landscapes and the wild hinterlands in Paraíba from his childhood deeply affected his work, which goes through a turning point towards abstraction, abandoning figuration in favor of luminous landscapes in which color works as a kind of veil, or filter. From this moment onwards, his paintings reside between abstract chromatic fields and the suggestion of atmospheric landscapes, exhausting the possibilities of articulating elements of light and hue in an intense manner.
In 2012 Lucena received the Mario Pedrosa Award for Contemporary Artist, from the Academia Brasileira de Críticos de Arte (Brazilian Academy of Art Critics). In 2014, he was awarded the Prêmio Energisa de Artes Visuais. In 2015, he participated in the exhibition “Admirável Mundo Novo, Admirável Mundo Velho” (Brave New World, Brave Old World), at the The Adashi Institute of Woodcut Prints, Tokyo, Japan. In 2017, he participated in the exhibition “Os Desígnios da Arte Contemporânea no Brasil” (Designs of Contemporary Art in Brazil), at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea da USP, MAC-USP, São Paulo. He participated in the artistic residency at Oxbow Seattle, USA, and his work is represented by Mariane Ibrahim Gallery in the United States. In 2021, he presents two solo exhibitions: "The Blue That Embraces Me", at the Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, in Chicago, and “Espelho” (Mirror), at the Simões de Assis, in Curitiba, gallery that now represents him in Brazil.