Dani Cavalier b. 1993

Dani Cavalier (1993, Rio de Janeiro) lives and works in Rio de Janeiro. Through drawings, paintings, installations, and sculptures, the artist explores themes related to the body, spirituality, and the history of women’s power and marginalization.

For the past three years, Cavalier has been developing her artistic research and practice around what she calls "solid paintings." Departing from the foundational elements of conventional painting—such as the stretcher, woven canvas, colors, and the notion of composition—the artist forgoes paint and brush, instead constructing her works with colorful scraps of Lycra collected from swimwear factories in Rio de Janeiro. While creating these solid paintings, she works with juxtapositions of blocks of color and the materiality of the fabric, which replaces the traditional canvas and wraps around the stretcher. The result is an interwoven composition of colors that exist without an inside or outside, without a front or back, and that seeks a participatory relationship with the viewer through its large-scale dimensions.

This research on "solid painting" is rooted in traditional textile art techniques passed down through generations of women in contexts historically excluded from the so-called Fine Arts. Cavalier seeks to work within this divide, blurring the boundaries between what is considered art and what is, pejoratively, regarded as craft.

Among her exhibitions, the following stand out: Dar nome ao Futuro: gestos de permanência (Solo, Centro Cultural da Justiça Federal, Rio de Janeiro, 2025); Dani Cavalier: pinturas sólidas (Solo, Galatea, São Paulo, 2025); Costurar sentidos (Group, Galeria Anita Schwartz, Rio de Janeiro, 2025); Geometria crepuscular (Group, A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro, 2024); Bronze Noturno (Group, Galeria Refresco, Rio de Janeiro, 2024); Ecos da intimidade (Group, Vórtice Cultural, São Paulo, 2024); Do desenho (Group, Centro Cultural dos Correios, Rio de Janeiro, 2024); Acordes (Group, Largo das Artes, Rio de Janeiro, 2022).