Ana Prata's pictorial research combines components of modernist repertoires with elements of everyday life. Ranging from large-scale to small-format works, her paintings primarily stem from her engagement with materials and the practical experience of working in the studio. Using humor to explore themes of intimacy and interiority, Ana Prata defines her practice as an exercise of critical reflection.
By appropriating established art history genres, her approach is attentive to the new meanings her paintings might take on. At the same time, she precisely constructs a pictorial vocabulary that diverges from traditional expectations. "It seems like I’m searching for a kind of affection or comfort that expresses itself in these small scenes. I look at them as toys, or sometimes as representations of objects from distant worlds, perhaps even prehistoric ones. They are fictions; the way they are made is what gives them some sense of reality," the artist explains.
Graduated in Fine Arts from the University of São Paulo, she participated in the 33rd São Paulo Biennial - Affective Affinities, São Paulo, SP (2018), and held solo exhibitions of national and international prominence, such as Used Cloth, 56 Henry Gallery, New York, USA; Stone Fruits, Tobias Mueller Modern Art Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland (2023); A Vida das Coisas, Sesc Pompéia, São Paulo, SP; Em volta desta mesa, Travesía Cuatro Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico (2022); Retratos e Biombos, auroras, São Paulo, SP (2019); Para Hilda Hilst, Biblioteca Mário de Andrade, São Paulo, SP (2018); Brasil Portraits, Discoveries, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (2017); e também o elevador, o vulcão e o jantar, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, SP (2014); Jogo de Desmontar, Centro Universitário Maria Antonia, São Paulo, SP; and Sala de Espera, Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo, SP (2009).
Throughout her career, she has participated in prominent group exhibitions in contemporary art, notably vai vai saudade, Madre Museum, Naples (2024); Desenho Sujo, USP Art Space, São Paulo, SP (2019); Brasil AI-5 50 ANOS: ainda não terminou de acabar, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, SP; Chimera, Galeria do Lago – Museu da República, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (2018); Os desígnios da arte contemporânea no Brasil, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP; Troposphere, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Pequim, China (2017); The Visible World Is Merely An Isolated Case, Cuchifritos, New York, USA; Around the Edge, Broadway 1602, New York, USA; Os Muitos e o Um, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, SP (2016); O espírito de cada época, Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto, SP (2015); 18ª SESC_Videobrasil, SESC Pompeia, São Paulo, SP; Lugar Nenhum, Instituto Moreira Salles, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (2013); 17º SESC_Videobrasil, SESC Belenzinho, São Paulo, SP; Os primeiros dez anos, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, SP (2011); 12º Salão Paulista de Arte Contemporânea, Casa das Rosas, São Paulo, SP (2008); among others.
In 2011, she participated in the Red Bull House of Art residency in São Paulo, and in 2016, in the Residency Unlimited in New York, USA. She was nominated for the PIPA Prize in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Her works are part of major collections, such as the Pinault Collection, Paris, France; Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Miami, USA; Instituto Itaú Cultural; Pinacoteca de São Paulo, SP, among others.