Brazilian painter Wanda Pimentel, known for feminist critique during dictatorship, dies at 76

Wanda Pimentel, a Brazilian artist celebrated for blending Pop and surrealist elements, died on December 27, 2019. Her influential Envolvimentos series, created from 1968 to 1984, features fragmented female figures in domestic settings, critiquing the patriarchy during Brazil's military dictatorship. One striking 1979 piece shows bare legs in a messy kitchen, ignoring a boiling kettle. Pimentel started her artistic journey in 1965 at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, studying under Ivan Serpa and connecting with artists like Raymundo Colares and Cildo Meireles. Her vibrant early works shifted to monochrome in the 1990s. In the 2000s, her Animais series debuted at MAM Rio. Later, her Memórias series explored sculpture. A 2017 retrospective at MASP and her involvement in the 2018 Radical Women exhibition boosted her global recognition.