Caio Pacela's First Solo Show in São Paulo: "o artista fraco"

Janaina Torres Gallery presents Caio Pacela's first solo exhibition in São Paulo, titled "o artista fraco", curated by Clarissa Diniz. The show will open on October 25, 2025, and remain on view until January 31, 2026.

The exhibition features oil paintings on canvas, graphite drawings on paper, artist's notebooks, and autograph texts titled "notas de culto", exploring spirituality and transcendence in dialogue with body, faith, and identity. Pacela adopts a phenomenological approach, inviting viewers to assign meaning to the works through their own references.

In his research, the artist sacralizes the territory of art by equating it with the divine: "Art is not something, but someone. And necessarily, someone who doesn't exist. And it is this temple that worships and praises the nonexistence of she who is." His works depict human figures in states of ecstasy, devotion, anguish, and fear, materializing the human condition through scenes incorporating eschatological elements, natural phenomena, and animals.

Curator Clarissa Diniz emphasizes: "Graduated in painting from UFRJ's Escola de Belas Artes, Caio Pacela's technical virtuosity seems to refuse to signify. He paints as one who weaves a plot capable of receiving the intensive meaning of the Other."

The exhibition includes both recent works exploring the divine and earlier productions like the series "Exercícios de manutenção do instinto", addressing collective behaviors triggered by social media. Pacela, represented by Janaina Torres Galeria, has exhibited at institutions including Centro Cultural CAIXA, Galerie SALON H in Paris, and participated in ArtRio 2025.

On the cover: Caio Pacela, O Devoto (detail), 2024. Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm. Photo: Jaime Acioli.