Maritza Caneca
Bio
Maritza Caneca was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi. Caneca is a resident artist at the Bakehouse Art Complex, in Miami, where she currently lives and works. In 1982, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Social Communication from Faculdade da Cidade. After graduation, she started her work in cinematography, working in films like Cinema Falado by Caetano Veloso in 1986. In 2006 Caneca received the Best Cinematography Award by the Brazilian Association of Cinematic Photography. Turning to a studio practice in 2012, Caneca took the camera out of the film set and into the urban landscape with her photographic series of pools.
During the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Caneca exhibited at the renowned Paço Imperial. In 2017, she was commissioned by the iconic Copacabana Palace to create an intervention during the hotel pool's first remodeling since being built in 1934. Caneca has exhibited in galleries in São Paulo, New York, Budapest, and Basel, amongst others. Most recently, Caneca has been selected for a public art project at Miami International Airport in 2021.
Statement
“Geometric Blue”. The intricate reflections of light over the body of water mingle with each other over the blue tiles portrayed in Maritza Caneca’s photograph. A royal blue rhombus is centered in the image, and is met by two other shapes with different shades of the same color. The geometrical rigidity of the pattern on the bottom is evident, yet the traces of light over the moving water contrast it with fluidity, motion and weightlessness.
While every image is the same, each piece comes with a unique intervention made from geometric cutouts that create small portals into other spaces. One, two or more cutouts can be found over the image, whether imitating the iconic rhombus shape or in circular form. The image taken from the bottom of a pool in Copacabana Palace is base for the edition entitled “Geometric Blue”.
Copacabana Palace is a Brazilian landmark known to be the most traditional and luxurious hotel in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Caneca’s birthplace. The image was taken in 2017, just before the area was closed down for renovations.
To photograph pools, and to bring them to a public, is often a way to explicit an intimate and personal setting of a home. In this case, while the pool is well known, it is only accessible to those who stay at the hotel or are able to afford its entry. Hence, to create an edition out of it is to give access to this space and its history through mobility and multiplicity.
