Maritza Caneca is a Miami-based visual artist whose work spans photography, film, and multimedia installations. After spending three decades as a cinematographer, her work continues to capture detailed narratives found in the angles of simple symmetries and geometries.
She graduated from the Faculdade da Cidade, Rio de Janeiro in 1982, and soon began working in cinematography with films such as Cinema Falado by Caetano Veloso (1986). In 2006, Caneca received the Best Photography Award from the Brazilian Association of Cinematographic Photography, and went on to participate in award winning films in 2007, 2014, and 2016. Since 2012, Caneca has worked with photography and installations and has developed a body of work focused primarily on an exploration of swimming pools. She exhibited at the Paço Imperial during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2017 was invited to make an artistic intervention at the iconic pool of the Copacabana Palace Hotel. In 2020 Caneca completed a photographic mural in Miami, FL created in collaboration with the Bakehouse Art Complex, her largest public art project to date, and was invited to exhibit her work at the Miami International Airport by the Division of Fine Arts & Cultural Affairs of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department.
Caneca has been featured in group exhibitions in Miami, New York, Detroit, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Budapest, and Basel and has been the subject of solo exhibitions in Miami, Rio de Janeiro, and Budapest. She is currently an artist in residence at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami, FL.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Arts & Recreation | Public Art, Mural Installation, Miami, USA | 2020/2021
Pools | Miami International Airport, Miami, USA | 2020/2021
Entre águas | Anita Schwartz Galeria de Arte, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 2018/2019
Water Diaries | curated by Adriana Herrera, Clima Art Gallery, Miami, USA | 2018
Immersion in Blue | curated by Vanda Klabin, Belmond Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 2017/2018
Pool Series | curated by Vanda Klabin, Bossa Gallery, Miami, USA | 2016/2017
Série Piscinas | curated by Vanda Klabin, Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 2016
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Healing the Earth | Contemporary Art Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, USA | 2021
Home Sweet Home | Pinecrest Gardens, Miami, USA | 2020/2021
Fotos Pró Rio | Curated by Luiza Amaral Peixoto. Online action by Ateliê Oriente, FotoRio, Galeria Aymoré and Retrato Espaço Cultural, Brazil | 2020
Never Normal | Wasserman Project, Detroit, USA | 2020
The Passing of Time - Part II | curated by The Gallery Club, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, USA | 2019/2020
Photographic Visions 2019 Summer | curated by Zsolt Bátori, PH21, Budapest, Hungary | 2019
Doral Hearts Brazil | Doral Contemporary Art Museum, Miami, USA | 2019
O que emana da água | curated Vanda Klabin, Carbono Gallery, São Paulo, Brazil | 2019
Caneca, Henry, Hocking | Wasserman Project | Detroit, USA | 2019
Another Beautiful day in Miami | curated by The Gallery Club, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, USA | 2019
RAW POP UP Art | Basel Week, The Macy's Building, Miami, USA | 2018
Unnatural Nature | curated by Jessica Acosta-Rubio, Pinecrest Gardens, Miami, USA | 2018
Ser, Habitar e Imaginar | curated by Adriana Herrera, Carré Art, Aluna Art Foundation, Miami | 2018
Summer Exhibition | curated by Danielle Damas, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, USA | 2018
RAW POP UP | The Moore Building, Miami, USA | 2018
Land+Body = Escape | curated by Tatiane Schilaro, The 55 Project, Nars Foundation, New York, USA | 2018
Land+Body = Escape | curated by Tatiane Schilaro, The 55 Project, Miami, USA | 2018
New Work | curated by Justin Long, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, USA | 2017
Tropical World, Bossa Gallery, Miami, USA | 2017
Re-Membering, Bossa Gallery, Miami, USA | 2017
Welcome to Miami, Fountainhead Studios, Miami, USA | 2016
Unconditionally Beautiful, Bossa Gallery, Miami, USA | 2016
Mostra Brasil, House of Art, Miami, USA | 2014
Art Office of Alexandra Archer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 2013
SITE SPECIFIC INSTALLATIONS & COLLECTIONS
American Flag | Photograph printed in a flag format (40X60) on Voille De Ville.
Flown and photographed throughout United States (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina) | 2020/2021
1000 Kites | Collaboration with Liene Bosquê, Photograph printed on ripstop and exhibited as a box kite format, originally design by Walter Gregori and recreated by the artists, with ripstop, wood, glue, sewing thread. Flown and photographed in Haulover Park, Miami, USA | 2020
R E D, Budapest | Installation consisting of four photographs printed on glass panels (102x35 inches each) | Permanent Collection of Villa Aymoré, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 2019
SELECTED CINEMATOGRAPHY WORKS
Director of photography, "Sociedade do medo" by Adriana Dutra | 2019
Director of photography, "Opção America" by Adriana Dutra | 2018
Director of photography, "O homem e a bolsa" by Luis Erlanger | 2017
Director of photography, "Asdrúbal trouxe o trombone" by Hamilton Vaz Pereira | 2016
Director of photography, second unit, "Chico, artista brasileiro" by Miguel Faria | 2015
Director of photography, "A luz do Tom" by Nelson Pereira dos Santos | 2013
Director of photography, "Pro dia nascer feliz" by João Jardim | 2006 Still photographer, "Faca de dois gumes" by Murilo Salles | 1988
Still photographer "Romance da empregada" by Bruno Barreto | 1987
Still photographer, "Cinema falado" by Caetano Veloso | 1986
AWARDS
Honorable mention | Artists in the spotlight, Arte Laguna, USA | 2020
Finalist on Installation category | Focus Brazil Visual Arts Awards, USA | 2020
Winner on Photograph Fine Art | Focus Brazil Visual Arts Awards, USA | 2019
Winner | Best Documentary, "Chico, artista brasileiro", Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro, Brazil | 2016
Winner | Best Documentary, "A Luz do Tom", Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro, Brazil | 2014
Winner | Special Jury Award, "Pro dia nascer feliz," Miami International Film Festival, USA | 2007
Winner | Best Cinematography, Best Documentary, "Pro dia nascer feliz," Associação Brasileira de Cinematrografia | 2006
Winner | Special Jury Award, Gramado Film Festival, | 2006