Helena Almeida retrospective at Jeu de Paume

The first international retrospective of Portuguese artist Helena Almeida (Lisbon, 1934) has opened at Jeu de Paume in Paris, after its initial presentation at Fundação Serralves in Porto. The exhibition will later travel to Wiels in Brussels. Titled "Corpus" and subtitled "My work is my body, my body is my work," the show follows a chronological layout, tracing Almeida's career from the 1960s to her recent works. It highlights her use of a "blue thread" (a reference to her frequent use of blue) across media including painting, performance, and photography. Key series such as "Pintura habitada" and "Desenho habitado" (1975) are featured, where photographic documentation transcends mere recording to become a junction between the artist's body and representational tools. Works like "Tela habitada" (1976), "Saida Negra" (1995), and "Dentro de mim" (1998) demonstrate her focus on the body as both subject and support, often using pigment powder and black-and-white photography to visualize traces of action. The exhibition runs through May 22, 2016.