Marta Penter
Marta Penter has dedicated herself to painting, in its majority oil on canvas. With a realistic approach, she explores themes related to the human behavior, being influenced by her experiences, thoughts, traveling, readings and courses, beyond having a degree in psychology. Her paintings, usually large-sized, are characterized by a palette of grays with punctuated details of color. Marta owns a studio in Porto Alegre, having regular exhibitions in the United States (New York, San Francisco, Napa Valley and Montecito) since 2010. In 2015 and 2016 she took part in museum exhibitions in South Korea and in 2019 in Monaco. In Brazil she has works in the MACRS and in the MARGS museum collection’s.
Biography
In her new series “Parallel Time,” Brazilian artist Marta Penter delves into the psychology of border-zones: between here and there, past and future, self and other, action and stillness. Rendered with her signature monochrome photorealism, accented with elements of bright pink or blue, figures flow through stages of transit, absorbed in their thoughts or the screens of their devices.
The feeling of a new, altered rhythm of time, a different temporal frequency, pervades these works, from the train images that capture the meditative state of riding in a car that never leaves the tracks, but progresses steadily toward a future destination, to the paintings of street scenes in which real and reflected views overlap, requiring the viewer to pause and sort out the perspective. One pair of paintings shows solitary women waiting, their feet on their luggage, in beach chairs, for an unknown duration and purpose, while another set of images finds people standing in a long line, waiting in a boarding area. Each figure represents an individual world with its own concerns, relationships, and narratives. They hover in the white space of the canvas the way they hover between here and elsewhere: in Penter’s words, a space where “past, present and future seem to merge in one dimension alone.”
Penter herself is an avid traveler, an artist whose creative process is sparked by the experience of being an observer in a new landscape: “being of the place, but not belonging to it.” When she found herself confined to her studio during the pandemic, she dug into her own memories of transit and in-between states, informed by the sense of floating in time during isolation. A small series of luggage handles cleverly evokes ideas about what is portable and essential, what baggage—mental and physical—we transport, how we “carry on” with our lives in the midst of larger events, even how we mold the world and are molded by it. In a moment when physical touch is carefully considered and rationed, the handles— ”intimately tied to the touch,” as Penter notes—take on special significance.
Born in Brazil in 1957, Marta Penter studied psychology before turning to art, a sensibility evident in her careful observations of human behavior and connections. She continues to live and work in in Porto Alegre, and has exhibited internationally at art fairs and museums.
Born
1957 Brazil
Works in Museum Collections
2010 No Title, drawing on Arches paper, 150x78cm, Donated by Marta Penter, Museum of Contemporary Art of Rio Grande do Sul.
2009 IN Suspenso, graphite and bic pen on paper, 40x30cm, Donated by André Venzon, Museum of Contemporary Art of Rio Grande do Sul.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 Parallel Time, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito, CA
2018 Floating Time, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA
2016 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
2016 Among Silence, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2015 Entre Silencios, Museum of Contemporary Art of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2013 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2011 Campton Gallery, New York, NY.
2010 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2009 IN Suspenso, Studio Clio Instituto de Arte e Humanismo, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2008 Intimidade Compartilhada, Bolsa de Arte, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2007 Ao Pe do Olhar, Aquarelas, Galeria João Lagoa, Porto Alegre, Portugal.
2004 Cruzamento de Tempoos, Bolsa de Arte, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2002 Memorias, Bolsa de Arte, Porto Algre, Brazil.
1995 Aquarelas, The King Hooper Mansion Gallery, Marblehead,MA.
1994 Viajando Por Si Mesmo, Galeria de Arte Mosaico, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
1992 Aquarelas, Galeria dos Arcos, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 Grace Kelly 90 years, Prince Albert II, Monaco
Art Market San Francisco, Caldwell Snyder Gallery
SCOPE Miami, Caldwell Snyder Gallery
2018 35th Anniversary Show, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco
2018 Art Market Hamptons, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, NY, NY
2017 10 Year Anniversary Show, St. Helena, CA.
2016 Context Miami, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Miami, FL.
Context NY, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, New York, NY.
Art Market SF, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Hyperrealism. Clayarch Gimhae Museum, Gimhae, South Korea
2015 21c Hyperrealism: Breathing, Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, South Korea.
Hyperrealism: To See, To Show and To Be Seen, Suwon Ipark Museum of Art - SIMA, Suwon, South Korea.
Art Market SF, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2014 Miami Context, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Miami, FL.
PS Art Fair, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Palm Springs, CA.
Art Southampton, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Southampton, NY
Constructive Voluptiousness - Drawing Pleasure and
Planning in the MAC-RS Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Útero, museu e domesticidade: gerações do feminino na arte, Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
30 x 30, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2012 Art Hamptons, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY.
2010 SF Fine Art Fair, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Rendez-vous avec une femme. Ed II., Galerie Adler, Paris, France.
2009 Miami Context, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Miami, FL.
2008 Aquarela Internacional, Pinacoteca de Sao Caetano do Sul, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2007 Selecoes da Arte Contemporanea Brasileira, Rio de Janerio, Brazil.
2005 Tres Artistas Contemporaneos, Fundacao Cultural ECARTA.
Press
PRESS
Selected Artworks
Born
1957 Brazil
Works in Museum Collections
2010 No Title, drawing on Arches paper, 150x78cm, Donated by Marta Penter, Museum of Contemporary Art of Rio Grande do Sul.
2009 IN Suspenso, graphite and bic pen on paper, 40x30cm, Donated by André Venzon, Museum of Contemporary Art of Rio Grande do Sul.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 Parallel Time, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito, CA
2018 Floating Time, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA
2016 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
2016 Among Silence, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2015 Entre Silencios, Museum of Contemporary Art of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2013 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2011 Campton Gallery, New York, NY.
2010 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2009 IN Suspenso, Studio Clio Instituto de Arte e Humanismo, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2008 Intimidade Compartilhada, Bolsa de Arte, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2007 Ao Pe do Olhar, Aquarelas, Galeria João Lagoa, Porto Alegre, Portugal.
2004 Cruzamento de Tempoos, Bolsa de Arte, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2002 Memorias, Bolsa de Arte, Porto Algre, Brazil.
1995 Aquarelas, The King Hooper Mansion Gallery, Marblehead,MA.
1994 Viajando Por Si Mesmo, Galeria de Arte Mosaico, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
1992 Aquarelas, Galeria dos Arcos, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 Grace Kelly 90 years, Prince Albert II, Monaco
Art Market San Francisco, Caldwell Snyder Gallery
SCOPE Miami, Caldwell Snyder Gallery
2018 35th Anniversary Show, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco
2018 Art Market Hamptons, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, NY, NY
2017 10 Year Anniversary Show, St. Helena, CA.
2016 Context Miami, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Miami, FL.
Context NY, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, New York, NY.
Art Market SF, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Hyperrealism. Clayarch Gimhae Museum, Gimhae, South Korea
2015 21c Hyperrealism: Breathing, Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, South Korea.
Hyperrealism: To See, To Show and To Be Seen, Suwon Ipark Museum of Art - SIMA, Suwon, South Korea.
Art Market SF, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2014 Miami Context, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Miami, FL.
PS Art Fair, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Palm Springs, CA.
Art Southampton, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Southampton, NY
Constructive Voluptiousness - Drawing Pleasure and
Planning in the MAC-RS Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Útero, museu e domesticidade: gerações do feminino na arte, Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
30 x 30, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2012 Art Hamptons, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY.
2010 SF Fine Art Fair, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Rendez-vous avec une femme. Ed II., Galerie Adler, Paris, France.
2009 Miami Context, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Miami, FL.
2008 Aquarela Internacional, Pinacoteca de Sao Caetano do Sul, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2007 Selecoes da Arte Contemporanea Brasileira, Rio de Janerio, Brazil.
2005 Tres Artistas Contemporaneos, Fundacao Cultural ECARTA.
In her new series “Parallel Time,” Brazilian artist Marta Penter delves into the psychology of border-zones: between here and there, past and future, self and other, action and stillness. Rendered with her signature monochrome photorealism, accented with elements of bright pink or blue, figures flow through stages of transit, absorbed in their thoughts or the screens of their devices.
The feeling of a new, altered rhythm of time, a different temporal frequency, pervades these works, from the train images that capture the meditative state of riding in a car that never leaves the tracks, but progresses steadily toward a future destination, to the paintings of street scenes in which real and reflected views overlap, requiring the viewer to pause and sort out the perspective. One pair of paintings shows solitary women waiting, their feet on their luggage, in beach chairs, for an unknown duration and purpose, while another set of images finds people standing in a long line, waiting in a boarding area. Each figure represents an individual world with its own concerns, relationships, and narratives. They hover in the white space of the canvas the way they hover between here and elsewhere: in Penter’s words, a space where “past, present and future seem to merge in one dimension alone.”
Penter herself is an avid traveler, an artist whose creative process is sparked by the experience of being an observer in a new landscape: “being of the place, but not belonging to it.” When she found herself confined to her studio during the pandemic, she dug into her own memories of transit and in-between states, informed by the sense of floating in time during isolation. A small series of luggage handles cleverly evokes ideas about what is portable and essential, what baggage—mental and physical—we transport, how we “carry on” with our lives in the midst of larger events, even how we mold the world and are molded by it. In a moment when physical touch is carefully considered and rationed, the handles— ”intimately tied to the touch,” as Penter notes—take on special significance.
Born in Brazil in 1957, Marta Penter studied psychology before turning to art, a sensibility evident in her careful observations of human behavior and connections. She continues to live and work in in Porto Alegre, and has exhibited internationally at art fairs and museums.
Biography
Press
Marta Penter has dedicated herself to painting, in its majority oil on canvas. With a realistic approach, she explores themes related to the human behavior, being influenced by her experiences, thoughts, traveling, readings and courses, beyond having a degree in psychology. Her paintings, usually large-sized, are characterized by a palette of grays with punctuated details of color. Marta owns a studio in Porto Alegre, having regular exhibitions in the United States (New York, San Francisco, Napa Valley and Montecito) since 2010. In 2015 and 2016 she took part in museum exhibitions in South Korea and in 2019 in Monaco. In Brazil she has works in the MACRS and in the MARGS museum collection’s.
Marta Penter
In her new series “Parallel Time,” Brazilian artist Marta Penter delves into the psychology of border-zones: between here and there, past and future, self and other, action and stillness. Rendered with her signature monochrome photorealism, accented with elements of bright pink or blue, figures flow through stages of transit, absorbed in their thoughts or the screens of their devices.
Marta Penter has dedicated herself to painting, in its majority oil on canvas. With a realistic approach, she explores themes related to the human behavior, being influenced by her experiences, thoughts, traveling, readings and courses, beyond having a degree in psychology. Her paintings, usually large-sized, are characterized by a palette of grays with punctuated details of color. Marta owns a studio in Porto Alegre, having regular exhibitions in the United States (New York, San Francisco, Napa Valley and Montecito) since 2010. In 2015 and 2016 she took part in museum exhibitions in South Korea and in 2019 in Monaco. In Brazil she has works in the MACRS and in the MARGS museum collection’s.