‘Don’t Forget I Come From the Tropics’: Introducing the Surrealist Sculpture of Maria Martins by Dr Michael Taylor

This talk will explore the extraordinary life and work of the Brazilian sculptor Maria Martins (1894-1973). Exhibiting her work under her first name, Maria created Surrealist sculpture in the 1940s that was rooted in Afro-Brazilian culture, as well as the myths and folklore of the Amazon Rainforest.

Dr. Michael R. Taylor is the Chief Curator and Deputy Director at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia. A scholar of Dada and Surrealism, Dr. Taylor has organized a number of important exhibitions during his career, including Giorgio de Chirico and the Myth of Ariadne (2003); Salvador Dalí: The Centennial Retrospective (2004); Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective (2009); Marcel Duchamp: Étant donnés(2009); Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris (2010); and Man Ray: The Paris Years (2021). In 2010, Dr. Taylor’s exhibition catalogue, Marcel Duchamp: Étant donnés, won both the George Wittenborn Prize and first prize for best museum permanent collection catalogue by the American Association of Art Museum Curators. Also in 2009, Taylor was co-commissioner with Carlos Basualdo for the Bruce Nauman exhibition at the American Pavilion for the 53rd Venice Biennale. The exhibition won the Golden Lion award for best national pavilion.