Opening a vital dialogue on duality and ambiguity, the exhibition explores African-origin cultural expression as a site of encounter, transformation, and syncretic identity. Through portraiture and layered visual languages, Ivan Moraes and Saint Takyi draw on Christian, Candomblé, and Asante traditions: Moraes embeds Afro-Brazilian ritual aesthetics within everyday scenes, while Takyi weaves Christian heritage and Asante mythologies into dreamlike narratives that probe the fluidity of identity.
Working in oil on canvas, Saint Takyi constructs dimorphic figures that blend child and adult traits, exploring duplexity, mythology, and identity. Their practice fuses worldbuilding and anthropological photography into dreamlike narratives. Using blue as a foundational element, a hue rare in nature and rich with symbolic resonance, Takyi creates ephemeral humanoid forms that channel memory and ancestry, often using themselves as the sitter. Beginning with a fascination for portraiture, they employ painting, sculpture, drawing, and writing as ‘time stamps’ of their evolving expression. For this exhibition, Takyi presents a series of five new works, including a diptych inspired by the biblical story of Cain and Abel. These paintings draw upon the artist’s own layered heritage and upbringing,
“I really love the idea of creating and imagining a new history. In this [series of work], I am focusing more on duality, and I am investigating the idea of alternative pasts and presents,” the
artist explains. “I am interested in personifying my duality in heritage, in my own spirituality and religion. I’m researching mythology and creating my own ones from borrowed stories, much like my own identity, which is borrowed from different places.”
Ivan Moraes developed a distinctive visual language rooted in the everyday spirituality of Afro-Brazilian life in Bahia, particularly through intimate portraits of women and scenes of religiosity unfolding beyond formal places of worship. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1936, Moraes first pursued higher education in Social Service before dedicating himself entirely to painting, a practice he had nurtured since childhood. The works presented in Two Shores, drawn from the 1960s and 70s, reflect Moraes’ sustained engagement with Bahian cultural traditions and the richly layered iconography of Afro-Brazilian identity. An important work in the exhibition, Untitled (Candomblé ritual) (1960), exemplifies his ability to merge vivid colour, detail and a sense of the sacred, capturing the dynamism of ritual life with both tenderness and precision.
Moraes’ treatment of lace is one of the most distinctive aspects of his practice, revealing both his technical mastery and his sensitivity to the cultural symbolism of the traditional Baiana dress. Working in tempera, he built luminous layers of white upon white, allowing tonal shifts to articulate the intricate embroidery, pleats and textures of the traditional garments. Rather than depicting lace as a static decorative detail, Moraes animated it as the fabric ripples, gathers and unfurls across the surface of the canvas. This attention elevates the lace from costume to cultural icon: an embodiment of history, ritual and syncretism. Reinforcing the strength and grace of his subjects, Moraes transforms lace into a language of reverence, celebrating the resilience of Afro-Brazilian womanhood.
Marcelo Pallotta, founder of Galeria MaPa in São Paulo, first encountered Ivan Moraes’ work on the cover of Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66’s 1969 album Ye-Me-Le. Pallotta was drawn to Moraes’ portrayal of an ancestral figure, both maternal and childlike, reflecting African heritage with depth and nuance. Moraes was commissioned for the cover as the band began incorporating Afro-Brazilian influences into its music, including vibrant percussion, Bahian folklore and rhythms inspired by Candomblé, echoing the spiritual traditions rooted in Brazil’s African diaspora. The album title, Ye-Me-Le (or Yê-melê), comes from a ceremonial chant in Afro-Brazilian religious practice, meaning “Sea Wave”, symbolising movement, resilience and cultural continuity.
Language throughout Two Shores strikes a balance between celebration and historical accuracy, situating beauty and resilience within the complexity of lived experience. By bringing together artists who pay homage to a variety of ancestral knowledges in their work, this exhibition celebrates multiculturalism at a time when heated discourses about notions of belonging threaten the fabric of society.
This exhibition is curated by Maria do Carmo M. P. de Pontes.
