I FINALLY got myself over to the Perez Art Museum Miami last week for the final days of the Beatriz Milhazes exhibition — and I am so, so glad I did.

The first major US retrospective of the Brazilian artist’s work, Jardim Botânico featured rooms filled with her large-scale abstract paintings. Inspired by Brazilian and European Modernism, the Baroque and the Carnival; gallery walls came alive with her patterning and joyful use of color. Milhazes’ process relies unapologetically on the use of acrylic transfers (a process that is very near and dear to my heart), leaving behind delightful hints and clues about the creation of the work in the forms of cracks and bubbles in the surface.  The resulting texture is gorgeous, prematurely aged and fell somewhere between a candy shop and the royal bedroom of Versailles. It is a blend that I found entrancing.

I did however find myself more drawn to the organic references of her earlier work. Some of the newer and harder-edged abstracts did not captivate me as completely. Oh well, to each their own.

I wish I could say ‘Go see the show!’ but unfortunately, it has already closed  (I was lucky enough to get there the day before). But I will definitely be following her to see where she’ll be next!