Thiago Rocha Pitta turns nature into living landscape

At Galeria Marília Razuk, Thiago Rocha Pitta explores landscape as a living organism in “The Egg as a Sphinx”, opening March 7. The solo show features frescoes, watercolors, installation, and sculpture, with a critical text by Camila Bechelany. Her essay highlights transformation and time as the key forces shaping the artist’s poetic vision. Since the beginning of his career, Rocha Pitta has observed the subtle mutations of nature — from sand erosion to atmospheric shifts — redefining landscape not as image but as process. “Far from the tradition of the stabilized image of territory, his work emerges from direct experience with natural matter and evokes timescales that exceed the human,” notes Bechelany. The fresco technique holds a central place in this exhibition. Studied by Rocha Pitta in Italy, it involves painting directly on wet plaster, allowing minerals to bond to the surface. Through this ancient method, he merges memory and transformation, as the final image depends on humidity and temperature variations. “The materials are not symbolic signs but active agents,” writes Bechelany, emphasizing the artist’s approach. The gallery thus becomes an extension of the natural world, where geological time, memory, and perception intertwine.

“Landscape is an event,” writes Camila Bechelany about Rocha Pitta’s living paintings.

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Exhibition: The Egg as a Sphinx Artist: Thiago Rocha Pitta Critical essay: Camila Bechelany Opening: March 7, 2026, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Venue: Galeria Marília Razuk – Rua Jerônimo da Veiga, 131 – Itaim Bibi – São Paulo Exhibition dates: March 7 – April 18, 2026 Free admission Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Galeria Marília Razuk