Ilka Lemos

There’s an intense, warm, sensual beauty to the paintings of Brazilian artist Ilka Lemos, which lends each of her acrylic works an engrossing sense of atmosphere. Whether in street scenes, intimate interiors or portraits, she strips away details or envelops them in layers of dramatic fog, creating beautifully mysterious tableaux. These are often inhabited by human figures – some solitary, others in pairs – which are rendered either in a stylized, Fauvist manner, or in a more classic figurative style. Lemos’ cityscapes are stunning, moody visions of empty, misty streets lined with glowing, hazy buildings.

Amidst all the elegant bodies and intriguing architecture, the most striking feature linking Lemos’ paintings is an uncanny sense of heat. Most compositions glow with a deep, rich hue of red that seems to radiate off the canvas. In places she uses this tone sparingly and it evokes a melancholic romance, elsewhere it dominates the painting with passionate fervor. Lemos’ paintings, whether subdued or gripping, leave the viewer transported and transformed.