Dalton Paula’s Transcendent Vision at Frieze London
The acclaimed Brazilian artist presents six profound new works that weave together Afro Brazilian traditions, ancestral practices and rituals of collective care, transforming everyday objects into vessels of spiritual and cultural significance.
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At Frieze London, Lisson Gallery presents an extraordinary collection of six new works by Dalton Paula, the visionary Brazilian artist and educator whose practice has consistently illuminated the profound intersections between personal memory, collective history and spiritual awakening. The presentation unfolds as a meditation on the transformative power of everyday objects, each piece resonating with layers of meaning that speak to traditions passed through generations and rituals that bind communities together.
Paula’s artistic vocabulary draws its richness from Afro Brazilian heritage and ancestral practices, creating compositions that function as both aesthetic experiences and philosophical statements. Within these works, the quotidian becomes the sacred; ordinary materials and forms ascend to become symbols of nourishment, spirituality and the continuity of lived experience. This elevation of the mundane to the monumental reflects Paula’s deep engagement with how knowledge circulates through communities, how resistance is expressed through care, and how emancipation remains perpetually anchored to the past even as it reaches towards the future.
The works on canvas possess a luminous quality, their surfaces and compositions inviting viewers into a dialogue about collective responsibility and shared memory. Paula explores the subtle but essential relationship between what we know and how we become free, considering the ways in which ancestral practices offer pathways not merely to understanding history, but to transforming our present moment. These are works of profound political and spiritual weight, rendered with an aesthetic grace that refuses didacticism in favour of invitation and contemplation.
Throughout the exhibition, the artist’s practice as an educator enriches the presentation, suggesting that these paintings are not merely objects to be observed but catalysts for reflection and discourse. The works speak to the continued relevance of the past, its insistence on being heard and acknowledged, and its essential role in shaping futures yet to come.
The presentation remains on view at Frieze London until 18 October 2026, offering an unmissable opportunity to encounter Paula’s visionary practice within this prestigious international platform.
Imagery courtesy of Lisson Gallery (@lisson_gallery).
