A PAINTING BEGINS TO TRAVEL WITHIN ART BOOKS AND HANDS DURING THE 36TH BIENAL DE SÃO PAULO

A painting is cut into smaller paintings and placed within books and public encounters during and beyond the 36th Bienal de São Paulo.

SãO PAULO, BRAZIL, January 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Contemporary American artist Ayzay Ukwuoma presents SÃO PAULO, a work released within the city of São Paulo during the 36th Bienal de São Paulo. Originally developed as a single large-scale painting (183 × 220 cm / 72 × 87 in), structured around the words “SÃO PAULO” encoded on a grid, the work has since been transformed through a set of placements. The painting was cut into smaller paintings and placed within books and hands, unfolding through a series of encounters in which individual paintings enter view through physical literature and spoken exchange.

Each small painting passed through art books and the hands of individuals the artist encounters in relation to art and literary spaces throughout São Paulo. The paintings were placed discreetly inside books within art sections at libraries, independent bookstores, and cultural institutions, and were also offered directly through brief, in-person exchanges. Encountered within the context of reading or conversation, the individual paintings (19 × 20 cm each) entered circulation through moments shaped by proximity, access, and circumstance.

“When was the last time you touched a painting?” Ukwuoma asks. “For those who discover the small paintings, entry into the larger work begins through the opening of a book or a meeting of hands. I began placing paintings in public spaces to add a physical point of connection to the experience of a painting in an increasingly digital world. The material presence of the painting persists through the individual small paintings shared among a network of holders, while the image of the original painting remains unified in its digital form. The painting is completed through these encounters, along pathways into literature and art within the city of São Paulo.”

This work continues an artistic practice through which Ukwuoma distributes some of his works via public encounters. Previous iterations include Idea Sale (2019), carried out in Lyon during the 15th Biennale de Lyon’s Fête des Lumières week, and a series of painting placements within used bookstores in Venice concurrent with the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013. In São Paulo, Ukwuoma began placing the small paintings during the 36th Bienal de São Paulo and continued these placements after the Bienal concludes.

Ayzay Ukwuoma
Ayzay Ukwuoma
ayzay@ayzay.com
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