Penser le Présent with Leda Catunda and Erika Verzutti

Brazilian artists Leda Catunda and Erika Verzutti are in the spotlight this fall in Paris with two solo exhibitions.

They have already collaborated and are familiar with each other's practices. This meeting will be an opportunity to look back on their recent exhibitions and exchange their views: organic forms, references to modernism and pop art, desire and feminism will be topics of discussion.

For Favorita, her first solo exhibition at the Emanuela Campoli gallery, Leda Catunda presents a collection of works marked by the juxtaposition of textiles, ornaments, and organic forms.
For its 2025 edition, Pourquoi Paris ?, Julie Boukobza's curatorial project, invites sculptor Erika Verzutti to take over the Hôtel Balzac, in collaboration with the Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel gallery.

The meeting will be moderated by Audrey Illouz, head of cultural programming, and introduced by art historian Ines Dahn and curator Julie Boukobza.

Leda Catunda (1961) lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil. Her work is the subject of the artist's largest retrospective outside Brazil at the Sharjah Art Foundation in September 2025. In October, Emanuela Campoli will present her first solo exhibition in Paris. Recent exhibitions include: Paisagem Selvagem, Carpintaria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2024); Leda Catunda: EUFORIA, ICA Milano, Milan, Italy (2023); Geography, Bortolami Gallery, New York, USA (2022); Judy Chicago & Leda Catunda, Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, Brazil (2022); Leda Catunda & Alejandra Seeber, MALBA – Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires (2021). She has also participated in group exhibitions Tecendo a manhã: Vida moderna e experiência noturna na arte do Brasil, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2025); Rituales del Cotidiano, Collegium, Arévalo, Spain (2024); Fullgás – Artes visuais e anos 1980 no Brasil, CCBB – Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2024); PLAY, FITE – Biennale Textile, Clermont-Ferrand, France (2024); El Dorado, Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Americas Society, New York, USA (2023); Re-materialized: the stuff that matters, Kaufmann Repetto, Milan, Italy (2023); Utopias e Distopias, MAM-BA – Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil (2022).

Erika Verzutti

(1971) lives between São Paulo and Europe.
In her work, she combines dissimilar elements and styles. She may work with classic materials such as bronze and clay or more artisanal materials such as papier-mâché and cardboard. Many of her sculptures reveal a particular attention to nature through the use of molded fruits and vegetables, while other works are inspired by current events such as newspaper headlines and internet phenomena.
Recent solo exhibitions include: The Life of Sculptures, LUMA, Arles, France (2024); Notizia, ICA Milano, Milan, Italy (2024); Hessel Museum - Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY (2023); Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City (2023); MASP, São Paulo (2021); Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK (2021); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2019); Aspen Art Museum, Aspen (2019). She has also taken part in group exhibitions, including: Geneva Biennale – Sculpture Garden, Geneva (2022); 57th Venice Biennale (2017), 32nd São Paulo Biennale (2016).

Her works are included in public collections such as those of the Tate Modern in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the François Pinault Collection in France, Inhotim in Brumadinho, Brazil, the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, and the Pinacoteca do Estado in São Paulo, among others.