Artist Talk: Rosana Paulino in Conversation with Cecilia Alemani

Join us for an in-depth conversation between artist Rosana Paulino and Cecilia Alemani, Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art, as they discuss Paulino’s mural commission, The Creation of the Creatures of Day and Night, located adjacent to the High Line at 22nd Street. 

Rosana Paulino’s work confronts Brazil’s colonial past and its enduring impact on Black and Indigenous communities. Her High Line commission, The Creation of the Creatures of Day and Night, expands on her Mangrove series, which portrays tree-women as mythological archetypes and symbols of the Brazilian biome. Paulino draws parallels between mangroves and Brazil’s Black and Indigenous people, both of whom have been historically mistreated and exploited. In this work, she transforms the mangrove into a sacred site of transformation, where life and death—like day and night—exist in a continuous cycle. Reimagining mythological archetypes, the artwork places Black and Indigenous figures at the center of a new cosmology. Through her work, Paulino challenges dominant narratives, creating space for reflection and resistance.

The conversation will delve into Paulino’s practice, process, imagery, and personal iconography, exploring themes of memory, ancestry, and feminism. It will also examine how her work engages with broader discussions on the lasting effects of colonialism and the threats facing not only Brazil’s biome, the Amazon rainforest, and Indigenous ways of life but also the significance of bringing this dialogue to an international audience on the High Line in New York City.

→

Artist Bio

Rosana Paulino (b. 1967, São Paulo, Brazil) lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil. She has held solo exhibitions at institutions including MALBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2024); Kunstverein Braunschweig, Brunsvique, Germany (2022); Museu de Arte do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2019); The Frank Museum of Art – Otterbein University, Westerville, Ohio (2019); Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2018); Clifford Art Gallery, Colgate University, New York (2018); Museu de Artes Visuais da Unicamp, Campinas, Brazil (2018); EGEAC, Lisbon, Portugal (2017); and Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Americana, São Paulo, Brazil (2013). She has participated in major international group exhibitions including O Legado Burle Marx, MAM Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2024); 35th Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2023); The Milk of Dreams, The 59th International Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy (2022); Afro-Atlantic Histories, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (2022); Global Positioning, Public Art Foundation, New York, Boston, Chicago (2022); Brasilidade: Pós Modernismo, CCBB, Brazil (2022); 22nd Sydney Biennial, Sydney, Australia (2020); Carolina Maria de Jesus: um Brasil para os brasileiros, Instituto Moreira Salles, São Paulo, Brazil (2021); 21o Bienal Sesc VideoBrazil, Sesc 24 de Maio, São Paulo, Brazil (2019); Slavery in the Hands of Harvard, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts (2019); Histórias Afro Atlânticas, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil (2018); Mulheres Negras – Obscure Beuaté Du Brésil, Espace Culturel Fort Griffon À Besançon, Besançon, France (2014). Her work is featured in the collections of major institutions around the world, including Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Museu de Artes de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina; The Frank Museum of Art, Westerville, Ohio; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo; São Paulo, Brazil; Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Museu AfroBrasil, São Paulo, Brazil; Museu Salvador Allende, Santiago, Chile; Pérez Art Museum, Miami, Florida; and Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brazil.

Accessibility

We encourage all persons with disabilities to attend. To request additional information regarding accessibility or accommodations at a program, please contact [email protected]. Program venues are accessible via wheelchair, and ASL interpretation can be arranged two weeks in advance.

Photo credit

Rosana Paulino, The Creation of the Creatures of Day and Night, 2024. A High Line Commission. On view November 2024 – December 2025. Photo by Tim Schenck. Courtesy of the High Line.

Support

Lead support for High Line Art comes from Amanda and Don Mullen. Major support is provided by Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons, The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, and Charina Endowment Fund.

High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams.

Rosana Paulino’s mural, The Creation of the Creatures of Day and Night, is made possible, in part, by an in-kind donation from Meadow Partners and Canvas Property Group. Painted by the team at Overall Murals.

Host or Publisher High Line Art