About the artwork
Panacea Phantastica (2003) is an iconic work by Adriana Varejão, composed of screen-printed ceramic tiles (azulejos) depicting a collection of plants with hallucinogenic properties from various regions of the world. Presented here as a unique, new work—never before installed and preserved in its original box—it reflects the artist’s interest in the intersections between history, science, botany, and culture. The motifs, rendered with great graphic precision, evoke the plates of old botanical and scientific atlases. The white, uniform, and modular surface of the azulejos contrasts with the symbolic richness of the images, creating a tension between order and disruption, rationality and sensory experience. The title of the work refers to the idea of a universal remedy, linking the supposed power of plants to that of art, which is capable of broadening our perception of reality.
Expert opinion
*Panacea Phantastica* is a work that is particularly representative of Adriana Varejão’s practice, in which the azulejo serves as an aesthetic medium, a historical reference, and a critical tool. Thanks to its modular and architectural nature, the work can be installed in an exhibition space as well as in a private setting, while retaining a strong conceptual impact. The fact that the work is unique, uninstalled, and preserved in its original condition significantly enhances its appeal to collectors. It is part of a widely institutionalized series and body of work, notably visible in major museum collections such as the Instituto Inhotim, making it a landmark piece in both artistic and heritage terms.
About the artist
Born in 1964 in Rio de Janeiro, Adriana Varejão is one of Brazil's most internationally recognized contemporary artists. Her work critically explores colonial history, power relations, cultural construction and the memory of the body, combining painting, sculpture, installation and azulejos. Drawing inspiration from Baroque architecture, Portuguese art, cartography and Brazilian history, Varejão develops a powerful visual language in which the pictorial surface seems to crack, revealing layers of flesh, violence and buried history. Decorative motifs thus become vectors for reflection on identity, crossbreeding and post-colonial legacies. Her work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions in major institutions and is included in the collections of leading international museums. Adriana Varejão lives and works in Rio de Janeiro.
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