In this book, Brazilian painter Beatriz Milhazes combines two very different perspectives. Her abstract compositions, reminiscent of modern masters such as Henri Matisse and Bridget Riley, are filled with the colors and light of her homeland. Her paintings are full of symbols of everyday life in Brazil, evoking carnival, traditional crafts, and patterns ranging from baroque to pop, all choreographed in an explosive visual rhythm. The colorful atmosphere has an irresistible exotic charm, but as in the works of Paul Gauguin, we encounter a ruined paradise resonating with darker, melancholic tones, both in the promises of tropical life and in contemporary abstract art.

Seeking this balance, Milhazes developed a special transfer technique in the late '80s, painting her patterns on plastic sheets, gluing them to the canvas, and allowing them to dry, then peeling off the plastic once dry, so that the paint remains on the canvas. This method allows the artist to repeat surfaces and achieve an iridescent image between the brilliant aura and the shimmering melancholy. Since her recognition in the mid-'90s, Milhazes has expanded the scope of her work to other media, creating screen prints, collages made from chocolate and candy wrappers, sculptures like giant mobiles from carnival decorations, commissioned works transforming building facades into stained glass windows, and experiments with body and rhythm in collaboration with her sister Marcia's ballet.

This updated edition, expanded to include works created up to 2020, explores all the creative phases of the artist, from her beginnings to the present, with over 300 of her works. The book has been created in close collaboration with the artist, both in image selection and in specially designed pages between chapters. It includes a conversation with curator Hans Werner Holzwarth, in which the artist analyzes her working methods and discusses the ideas and cultural background behind her work. An art historical essay by David Ebony, a poetic dictionary of Milhazes's key patterns by Adriano Pedrosa, and a detailed, updated biography of the artist by Luiza Interlenghi complete this extensive work. It is also available in an Art Edition with a signed silkscreen print by Beatriz Milhazes.