Mendes Wood DM now represents the estate of pioneering Brazilian artist Lygia Pape (1927-2004), a central figure in the Concrete and Neo-Concrete art movements. The gallery, founded by Pedro Mendes, Felipe Dmab, and Matthew Wood, operates spaces in São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, and New York. It plans a career-spanning exhibition of Pape's work in São Paulo in April 2026, coinciding with SP-Arte and her centenary year, and will bring works to Art Basel in Paris this October. Pape's first retrospective in France, 'Tisser l'espace (Weaving Space),' opens next week at the Pinault Collection's Bourse de Commerce in Paris, running from 10 September to 23 February 2026.
This representation matters because Pape is a landmark figure in Brazilian modern and contemporary art, known for her radical, sensorial, and politically engaged practice that extended beyond the gallery into society. Her estate's choice of a Brazilian gallery with international reach signals a strategic effort to elevate her global profile during her centenary year, when institutions worldwide are expected to reflect on her influence. The announcement also underscores the growing market and institutional attention on Latin American artists and the Neo-Concrete movement, which Pape co-founded with artists like Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica.