Beatriz MilhazesScreenprints 1996–2011Family Activity Sheet

The Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, Florida

whitechapelgallery.org/education

Bea

triz

Milh

azes

Hav

ai (H

awai

i), 2

003,

Mul

ti-c

olou

red

scre

enpr

int

on W

ater

ford

638

g pa

per,

131.

5 x

16cm

.©

The

Art

ist

and

Ste

phen

Fri

edm

an G

alle

ry, L

ondo

n

This Activity Sheet suggests different ways of looking at and talking about the exhibition Beatriz Milhazes Screenprints 1996-2011, including ideas for how to make artworks inspired by Milhazes’ prints, using objects from everyday life and some basic art materials.

Before you start...

We think a great way to visit an exhibition is with a friend or someone in your family, writing or sketching your thoughts and reactions to the work together, and if you have time, making your own work at the gallery or at home inspired by what you’ve seen and talked about.

Beatriz Milhazes Screenprints 1996–2011The Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, Florida

Beatriz Milhazes, Canela (Cinnamon), 2010

•Fold an A3 sheet in half, fold it in half again and once again (so that it is 1/8 the size of the sheet).

•Unfold completely and fold once in the opposite direction widthways. Cut into one of the spines of the folded sheet on one side as far as the middle.

•Open up the sheet (there is now a slit in the middle of the page). Fold it in half lengthways.

•Hold it upright with the slit at the top and push the edges towards the middle, bringing all the pages of your notebook together. Your book is ready!

Beatriz Milhazes makes her own books...Here’s how to make your own book:

Beatriz Milhazes was born in 1960 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and still lives and works there, where the nature and beauty of Rio continue to inspire her work. The artist has a special way of making prints using sheets of plastic and glue to place the paint on the canvas.

Talk to someone in the Gallery to find out more!

Beatriz Milhazes, Noite de verao (Summer Night), 2006

1.

4.

2.

5.

3.

6.

Fold 8 rectangles

Push left and right ends to centre to form a cube

Cut through centralpanels or fold and cut as shown

Then cross...

Fold landscape horizontal

Fold around any two sections to make a six page origami book

Colour

Beatriz Milhazes’ prints are full of bright, dancing colours that jump out of the canvas, inspired by colours in the natural and manmade world around her... what are your favourite colours in the artist’s work? What colours do you not like?

What colours do you notice around you in your world? Which ones would you choose to include in a work of art?

Mini-activity: Personal Palette

Materials: coloured pencils/crayons/oil pastels/sharpies

•Choose 5 colours that you think would look good together.•Make your own palette in your notebook with these colours using pencil/ crayon/ pastels.

Shapes

The artist’s prints are full of different shapes including lots of circles, hearts and arabesques that don’t describe anything in particular, but might make you think of other things in the world around you–evenanimals!BeatrizMilhazesisinspiredbylotsofthingsincludingflowers&plants,clothes&jewellery,cars&buildings…Lookclosely;what shapes do you see in the prints, and what do these shapes make you think of? Can you find any spider’s webs?!

Left - Right:

Beatriz Milhazes, Rosa branca no centro (White Rose in Center), 1997

Beatriz Milhazes, Entre o mar e a montanha (Between the Ocean and the Mountains), 1997–98

Beatriz Milhazes, No campo (On the Land), 1997

Mini Activity: Signature Shape

Materials:colouredpencils/crayons/oilpastels/sharpies;colourfultracingpaperandthickcard,scissors,piecesofspongeorfoam,paint;foundmaterials(seebelow)

• Trace or draw some shapes that you like in your notebook. They could be shapes from the artist’s work,orsomethingyoufindoutsidethegallery(flowers,leaves,shells,feathers,stones).

•Choose one of the shapes, make a stencil from it (by cutting the shape out of hard card) or cut the shape out of a sponge.

•Repeat your shape, using the stencil or the sponge (with paint), as many times as you like.. now you have your own signature wallpaper design!

More Activity

If you want to explore printmaking further, you could use materials such as wood (or even potatoes!) to cut your shape into and make more wallpaper. You will need a sharp tool to do this, so make sure there’s an adult with you at all times!

Beatriz Milhazes, Uva Selvagem (Wild Grape), 1996-98

Inspiration

BeatrizMilhazesisinfluencedbythecoloursandshapesfromthetropicalrainforestlandscapearound her in Rio, but also by music (especially ‘Bossa nova’!) and carnivals. What’s your favourite type of music? If you were to describe your favourite song using colour and shape, what would it look like?

Activity: What’s your Bossa nova?

•Sing your favourite song or type of music (to yourself or out loud!). • In your notebook, draw what you think its rhythm and overall sound looks like, using the colours and

shapes you’ve been putting in your notebook already. • If you have time, write the words of the song on the opposite page.

Beatriz Milhazes, O pato (The Duck), 1996-98

The Big Activity:

Useful materials:A3 paper, coloured pencils/ crayons/ oil pastels/ sharpies, small A5 sheets of colourful tracing paper and hard card, scissors, pieces of sponge or foam, glue, paint, (wall)paper with different patterns, doilies, pieces of lace and/ or floral fabrics, glitter, found natural materials from outdoors (flowers, leaves, shells, feathers, stones).

Bring together all of the things you found out about Beatriz Milhazes’ artwork to make a big work of your own full of your favourite colours, shapes and inspired by the natural world around you, or by the manmade fabric and paper that have been provided.

• Think about where you live and what you like or don’t like about it, and let this lead your collage.

•Start from the centre of the page and work out from it in different directions.

• Try repeating shapes to make patterns, and don’t worry about putting things on top of each other!

•Remember to use all the space on the page too, just like Beatriz Milhazes...

Now you have your own Artist’s Book. Write a description of your collage in your book!

Glossary

Arabesque:atypeofdecorationinfluencedbynaturalformslikeplants

Canvas: fabric painting surface stretched across a wooden frame

Print: one copy of many copies of an artwork made by placing ink on paper in different ways

Palette: a range of colours that you can dip into

Inspiration: where ideas come from

Signature: what makes something the only one of its kind

Bossa nova: a style of Brazilian music from the 1960s

Collage: an artwork using lots if different kinds of materials together

Written by the Whitechapel Gallery’s Education Department. TofindoutmoreabouttheWhitechapelGallery’s,pleasesee whitechapelgallery.org