A Car Load of Close Things

Paulo Monteiro, Untitled, 2025, Oil on linen, 22.0 x 15.0 cm. Courtesy of the Artist and Tomio Koyama Gallery.

 

Tomio Koyama Gallery Kyobashi is pleased to present Paulo Monteiro’s new exhibition, “A Car Load of Close Things.” This marks the artist’s third solo exhibition and his first in three years at our gallery. Similar to his first solo exhibition in Japan in 2017, it will be held concurrently with another exhibition at MISAKO & ROSEN, offering audiences a valuable opportunity to view a more diverse range of his work.

About Paulo Monteiro
Expressing a rich, minimalist sensibility through a diverse palette of colors in paintings, drawings, and sculptures

In Monteiro’s paintings, clusters of pigment comprising small dots and thin lines express a sense of materiality against vividly colored fields of pink, orange, yellow, and blue. His sculptures, on the other hand, are created by molding malleable clay that appears to be on the verge of collapsing and then casting it in bronze or aluminum.

Brazilian artist Paulo Monteiro (b. 1961) creates paintings, drawings, and sculptures in vivid colors with a rich, minimalist sensibility. He has been garnering international attention in recent years: a major retrospective was held at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo in 2008, while the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York acquired 12 of his works in 2014.

His body of work traverses the boundaries that lie between figuration and abstraction, embodying an enigmatic sense of materiality and dynamism. These pieces connect and resonate with one another through a finely balanced sense of spatial distance.

These works are akin to constellations, musical scores, or dance movements. While each of these works entails its own unique existence, their appearance shifts depending on their position, viewing angle, and distance. Viewers will find joy in discovering the distinctive characteristics and differences in the color, form, and scale of each piece.

For more information on Monteiro:
https://tomiokoyamagallery.com/artists/paulo-monteiro/

On Monteiro’s works and his new creations
A simple yet multilayered world of vibrant movement that explores the relationship between color, space, and three-dimensionality

Alongside new paintings, this exhibition will feature a series of small sculptures using wood fragments for the first time, as well as gouache paintings created in recent years.

Regarding the title of this solo exhibition, “A Car Load of Close Things,” and the distinctive characteristics of these new works, Monteiro had the following comments.

“I thought about close things because my new works are small and it is better to see them very close! At the same time I thought about what is the basic structure of a car!”
“The idea is that we have a car —something that moves —that’s also full of different things. I’m thinking in this show like something in movement. ”
“This new body of work is related to color and volume, with a specific space. I’m trying to investigate the relations between distance and proximity with color.” *1

His paintings feature ellipses rendered in homogeneous layers of paint, with backgrounds and various colors applied separately. At the same time, he thins the surface of the paint with a brush, transferring small amounts of thick layers to other areas, allowing “color” to emerge as “material.” In his sculptures, by displacing or cutting the material, the rigid bronze appears to undulate and swell with a kind of viscosity, as if to evoke a sense of fragility and ephemerality. This approach seems to express a subtle dialogue between the work and its weight, along with the process of transformation.

As a result of the apparent inevitability and randomness of its lively movements, Monteiro’s work appears dramatic, and even playful.

During Brazil’s military regime in the early 1970s, Monteiro drew politically critical underground comics. The work of Philip Guston, which combined elements of both comics and contemporary art, made a deep impression on him and led him to begin painting in earnest.

Monteiro stated the following in an interview:
“You don’t have to stop in front of my paintings: you can take a look and move on.”
“I try to make art like I did cartoons, it’s something to be seen, and it has to be fun.” *2

“When I’m producing, I don’t worry about what I’m doing in terms of drawing. What interests me is the question of color, matter, transparency, layers, the atmosphere that forms in each work.” *3

Paulo Monteiro’s new work expresses color and space, distance and three-dimensionality through movement in a free, unbridled manner. It vividly portrays the complexity of the world with simple modes of artistic expression, allowing viewers to notice the richness to be found in the subtle, unassuming traces and aspects of everyday life. We hope that you will take this opportunity to come and explore delightful discoveries from various angles — seen from afar, up close, and in everywhere in between.

*1 Email interview on the occasion of this exhibition
*2 Marta Papini「Paulo Monteiro in Conversation」Skira, 2024
Marta Papini, “Paulo Monteiro in Conversation,” Skira, 2024
*3 Paulo Monteiro, “Ao redor da distância” (Mendes Wood DM, 2025) press release

 

Paulo Monteiro, Untitled, 2025, Oil on linen, 42.0 x 34.0 cm. Courtesy of the Artist and Tomio Koyama Gallery.

Paulo Monteiro, Untitled, 2025, Wood, 11.0 x 6.0 x 5.5 cm (base). Courtesy of the Artist and Tomio Koyama Gallery.

 

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