Since 2005, Regina Parra, through painting, performance, video, and installation, has explored the tension between oppression and rebellion. Her early research focused on colonialism and the lasting injustices of patriarchy and capitalism, producing works that ask the viewer to rethink official narratives by focusing on the marks left on those who have been forgotten, subjugated, enslaved, and exploited.

Born in São Paulo in 1984, Parra holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and completed a Master’s in Art History under the guidance of curator Lisette Lagnado. Initially, Parra graduated with a degree in theater and worked for renowned director Antunes Filho as his assistant director until 2003. A connection with the performing arts, especially with Greek tragedy, is present in her work as a visual artist.  

In 2013, she was diagnosed with a degenerative disease that causes severe loss of muscle strength. This experience reverberates, in different ways, through her works. The body took on a more central role and she opened new investigations in a search for movements and gestures approaching dance as opposed to the immobility of her own body. Her focus centered on woman’s social body, as a place of affirmation and potential power. Female bodies are perceived as vulnerable and fragile, but Parra seeks to turn this assumption around through a process of reconstructing and adapting bodily movement to limitation. Parra’s work speaks of veiled, historical violence in relation to women.  

Her works have been shown at institutions such as the Jewish Museum (New York), Pablo Atchugarry Art Center (Miami), Mana Contemporary (Chicago), Shiva Gallery (New York), PAC-Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea (Milan), Museu Nacional (Lisbon), On Curating Project Space (Zurich), Museum of Sao Paulo, Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Museum of Modern Art of Sao Paulo, Tomie Ohtake Institute, Pivô, CCSP, Parque Lage, Paço das Artes, FAMA Museum, Figueiredo Ferraz Institute (all in Brazil).

In recent years, she has held solo exhibitions at Galeria Millan, FAMA Museum (Sao Paulo), MASC-Museum of Santa Catarina, Sítio, Pivô, Centro Cultural São Paulo Paço das Artes, Joaquim Nabuco Foundation, and Galeria Leme.

In 2021, Parra was invited to be a Monira Foundation artist in residence. In the previous year, she was selected to The Watermill Center Residency Program. She was also an artist in residence at AnnexB Residency, NY (2019); at Residency Unlimited Program (R.U.), NY (2018).

She was awarded the SP-Art Fair Prize, the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation’s Video Award, and the Videobrasil Award. Parra was also nominated for the Emerging Artists Award, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation.

Her work is part of the museum collections at Museum of Sao Paulo (MASP), FAMA Museum, Pinacoteca de Sao Paulo, Figueiredo Ferraz Institute, Sao Paulo Municipality, VideoBrasil, Joaquim Nanbuco Foundation, among others.

Text by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, curator and art critic based in Sao Paulo. Chief curator of the 34th Bienal de São Paulo, he curated the Pavilion of the Republic of Cyprus at last Venice Biennale, as well as the Brazilian Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007.
www.reginaparra.com

When did you first begin creating art?

I used to draw a lot when I was a kid, and I started with oil painting when I was eleven, though I never thought it could be a profession. I studied theater first. And only after a few years of working with theater, I migrated to visual arts.  

When did you first consider yourself to be an artist?

I studied Fine Arts at FAAP—a college in Sao Paulo, Brazil. And they used to organize a curated group show every year. I was not selected in my first year, but I got in my second year. It was the first curated group show in which I participated. And I've never been so happy in my life. I'm not sure if I considered myself an artist back then, but I was thrilled by the idea that I was creating something that could be meaningful and relevant for more people and not only me.

Who or what influences your practice?

Most of my works speak of veiled, historical violence in relation to women. So, I’ve been influenced by the histories—real, mythological, and magical—of other women; feminist histories of women who lived a long time before me but are still my ancestors. I've been trying to summon this in my work in a visual way.   

Tell us about a specific moment in your career that you would consider a turning point.

In 2013, I was diagnosed with a degenerative disease that causes severe loss of muscle strength. This experience reverberated, in different ways, through my works. The body took on a more central role and I opened new investigations in a search for movements and gestures approaching dance as opposed to the immobility of my own body. My focus centered on a woman’s social body, as a place of affirmation and potential power. Female bodies can be perceived as vulnerable and fragile, but I seek to turn this assumption around through a process of reconstructing and adapting bodily movement to limitations.  

Where would you like to see your artwork go in the future?

I have been willing to integrate different fields into my work—Visual Arts, Theater, Dance, and Music. During my residency at The Watermill Center, I started to work on a rock opera—an ambitious and exciting project in collaboration with another Brazilian artist, Ana Mazzei; four Brazilian musicians, two choreographers, and twenty-five female performers.