Dalton Paula’s Silenced Portraits Reclaim Hidden Histories
The acclaimed Brazilian artist presents six new works at Frieze London, honouring the untold stories of pivotal Black figures through paintings that layer contemporary vision onto historic text.
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There exists a particular poignancy in the act of painting over silence. Dalton Paula, the acclaimed Brazilian artist, researcher and educator, has devoted considerable creative energy to precisely this gesture: transforming the margins of history into vivid, undeniable presences through his ongoing “Retrato Silenciado” (Silenced Portrait) series. His latest solo presentation at Lisson Gallery during Frieze London represents a profound meditation on representation, visibility and the revolutionary power of artistic reclamation.
Across six new works, Paula constructs a visual argument that feels both intimate and historically urgent. He paints directly onto the pages of historic textbooks, choosing subjects whose absence from mainstream historical accounts belies their profound influence and courage. The series poses a deceptively simple yet infinitely complex question: “Who nourishes freedom?” It is a query that demands we examine not only the obvious architects of liberty, but those whose contributions have been deliberately obscured, their legacies confined to footnotes or erased entirely.
Among the works on display is a portrait of Luiza Mahin, a figure whose story crystallises the gallery’s preoccupation with silenced voices. Mahin was the mother of Luiz Gonzaga Pinto da Gama, the celebrated Brazilian lawyer, writer and abolitionist whose name adorns countless histories. Yet Mahin herself, whose political acuity and resistance shaped her son’s destiny and ideals, remains largely absent from historical consciousness. Paula’s deliberate choice to centre her image, to render her visage in luminous paint across the very pages that would have overlooked her, constitutes an act of artistic rebellion.
A Vision of Artistic Responsibility
What distinguishes Paula’s practice is his refusal of sentimentality. These are not reverential portraits designed to flatter or simplify. Rather, they emerge as complex confrontations between past and present, between the official record and the lived experiences that shaped history. The textbook pages themselves become palimpsests, layered documents where erasure gives way to visibility.
The artist has long understood that representation carries profound responsibility. For Paula, it remains essential to ensure that Black figures central to history, particularly the women whose contributions have been systematically diminished, receive the scholarly and artistic attention they deserve. His work functions simultaneously as historical correction, aesthetic statement and political gesture.
The exhibition runs until 18 October, 2026, offering an extended opportunity to contemplate Paula’s elegant yet uncompromising vision of how art might restore what silence has taken.
Imagery courtesy of Lisson Gallery (@lisson_gallery).