Water / Oil Marina Sader and Poli Pieratti

Gruta and Cavalo Gallery present exhibition curated by Ariana Nuala

Featuring new works by Marina Sader and Poli Pieratti, the exhibition brings together painting practices that investigate different ways of constructing the landscape

SÃO PAULO – Starting August 22, Gruta – Espaço de Arte Contemporânea, in partnership with Cavalo Gallery, presents Water / Oil, an exhibition bringing together new works by Marina Sader and Poli Pieratti, curated by Ariana Nuala. On view through September 19, the exhibition marks the second collaboration between the two institutions, continuing the exchange initiated in June 2025 with the group exhibition Compilações de acidentes, which featured works by Alexandre Nitzsche, Douglas de Souza, and Gabriela Mureb.

The project proposes a reflection on different ways of constructing the landscape through matter, gesture, and time. Poli Pieratti, represented by Cavalo Gallery, and Marina Sader, invited by Gruta, have developed distinct trajectories while sharing a common interest in painting as a space for investigation. In their works, the landscape ceases to be merely a subject of representation and becomes a structure that guides procedures, organizes the pictorial surface, and shapes the relationship between image and materiality.

COLLABORATION BETWEEN ART SPACES AND THE CIRCULATION OF RESEARCH

The alliance between Gruta and Cavalo strengthens connections between art circuits and spaces. By proposing a duo exhibition format, the institutions bring together practices from different origins, such as Pieratti’s poetics of the Cerrado and Sader’s botanical research, expanding the dialogue between artists and curatorial practices.

For curator Ariana Nuala — who is part of the curatorial team at Instituto Tomie Ohtake and curated the 38th Panorama of Brazilian Art at MAM-SP — the exhibition tests the limits of the support by bringing into confrontation the physical properties of the materials employed by the artists.

MATERIAL TENSION: RETAINED GESTURE AND FLUID MATTER

The exhibition’s central axis lies in the technical and gestural contrast between Sader and Pieratti. The curatorial approach structures the exhibition around the chemical concept of emulsion — the coexistence of two materials of different natures that share the same surface without losing their original characteristics.

In Sader’s works, the surface is built through the successive deposition and retention of oil pastel, resulting in a dense facture that retains the time of the gesture. Her compositions articulate elements from the botanical universe — such as greenhouses, herbariums, worktables, and orchid species — shifting these objects away from mere representation to investigate the technologies of looking that shape the cataloguing, cultivation, and domestication of nature.

Pieratti operates in the opposite direction, grounding her practice in the fluidity, deviation, and infiltration of pigment into fabric. Highly diluted paint penetrates the support without the imposition of rigid contours, giving rise to abstractions and cartographic lines that mimic the dynamics of groundwater and the underground roots of the Cerrado. Rather than containing it within the delimited space of the canvas, the artist allows the stain and line to overflow the edges of the stretcher, testing the physical limits of the support and the exhibition space.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Marina Sader (São Paulo, 1996)

Her practice begins with large-scale drawing and expands into painting, animation, and installation, investigating the creation of immersive works between observation, imagination, and narrative. She holds a degree in Graphic Design from Belas Artes de São Paulo and was awarded at Mostra Museu (2021). She has held solo exhibitions at Stichting Bewaerschole (Netherlands) and Galeria Luis Maluf, as well as presenting a solo project at NADA Miami (2024), selected by Jasmine Wahi. She is represented by Gruta – Espaço de Arte Contemporânea.

Poli Pieratti (Brasília, 1987)

Her practice in painting and installation investigates scale, spatiality, and the elements of the Cerrado as a living force between figuration and abstraction. She holds a Master’s degree in Painting from the University of Lisbon and graduated from UnB, with studies at Parque Lage and CPT. She has completed residencies at Domo Damo and Palácio das Mangabeiras, as well as solo exhibitions at Cavalo Gallery, Zipper, and Galatea. She received the Zet Gallery Award (Lisbon) and the Mandacaru Seal (Arpa), and participates in SP-Arte Rotas. She is represented by Cavalo Gallery.

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Ariana Nuala (Recife, 1993)

Researcher and curator, Nuala holds a Master’s degree in Art History from the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB) and a bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). She completed additional training at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO). She is currently part of the curatorial team at Instituto Tomie Ohtake. Her curatorial practice investigates relationships between memory, territory, diaspora, and power dynamics, bringing together research, writing, and collaborative processes. She served as Education and Research Manager and curator at Oficina Francisco Brennand and as curator at Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araujo. Her main projects include curating the 38th Panorama of Brazilian Art at MAM São Paulo as well as exhibitions and research developed at institutions and galleries such as Paço das Artes, Pivô, Almeida & Dale, Nara Roesler, and Cavalo.

ABOUT GRUTA

Gruta is a contemporary art space located in Barra Funda, dedicated to the investigation of experimental languages and critical thinking. The space serves as a place of exchange among artists, researchers, and the public, valuing productions that challenge the boundaries of sensory experience.

ABOUT CAVALO

Cavalo is a contemporary art gallery located in the Botafogo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. In addition to its exhibition program, Cavalo promotes public debates, meetings with artists and curators, performances, and video screenings, maintaining a commitment to strengthening the local cultural scene and its place within the international contemporary art debate.