The return of three decades of history and a carnival of colours. This is how Luiz Aquila returns to Brasilia, with a special exhibition, taking the opportunity to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Galeria Reference and its long-time partners and friends.
Watch the special video from the exhibition submitted to Metropoles:
The opening night of Reference Art Gallery’s Boogie Woogie exhibition was marked by the rare atmosphere of meetings that come again over time, but never the same.
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There was something of an intimate family celebration about Luiz Aquila’s return to Brasilia, the city where he lived as a boy and which now welcomes him to the gallery bearing the signs of age, specially chosen to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the gallery founded by the couple Onis Moraes and José Roseldetti de Oliveira. Nearly three decades after the first show with the artist, in 1996, the meeting seemed like a renewal of the cycle.
Onsi Moraes and Luiz Aquila
Roseldet recalls that the choice of name did not come about by chance. “Aquila is a very important artist in Brazil. When the gallery was only a year old, we had an exhibition of him. We have maintained this friendship for 29 years. We wanted to bring him back to celebrate his 30th birthday.”
The relationship with the reference has always been more than professional.
“I’ve shown my work with them several times in art galleries. I’ve become good friends with them. The times they go to Rio, we always meet and hang out and talk. So, not only a professional relationship has developed, but also a friendship.”
The reference was born from a motive as simple as it was decisive: to bridge the gap in Brasilia. Onece has always understood that art is a necessity.
“It all started because we thought Brasilia needed an exhibition,” Oncé says. “D.C. needed greater representation of art.”
Aquila and painting as destiny
At 82, Aquila remains driven by impressive energy – an artist whose output seems to be expanding rather than collapsing. His speech is direct, but carries a freedom that translates into a creative gesture. “Painting is how I place myself in the world. My painting and I often get confused.”
Check out some of the works from the Boogie Woogie exhibition:
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Conditional closure.
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Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
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Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
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Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
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Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
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Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
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Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
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Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
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Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
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Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
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Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
Pedro Eve/Metropolis
He was always drawing and his father, the artist and architect Alcides da Rocha Miranda, was his first reference. “I decided to be an artist when I was 17. But I have drawn my whole life.”
Brasilia is an essential part of this formation.
“I came to live here in 1960, when my father decided to come at a time when no one wanted to come to Brasilia. He was fascinated by the sky, the clouds and space. So, being here is important to me.”
Fabric from the Brasilia era by Luiz Aquila
Fabric from the Brasilia era by Luiz AquilaTherapy as dialogue
The exhibition is curated by Renata Azambuga, a professor and art historian, whose work moves between academic rigor and emotional sensitivity, a juxtaposition that found immediate resonance at Aquila.
“I was very happy about this invitation because I am a professor of art history. Luiz Aquila is a man who is truly part of the history of Brazilian art.”
Luiz Aquila was a professor and director of the Parque Lage School of Visual Arts, where he had a major influence on New Brazilian painting. The artist is considered the father of the movement called Geração 80.
Renata Azambuga and Louise Aquila
Renata says she always starts by listening to the artist: “The artist feels anxious when exhibiting, because he is not just showing his work, he is revealing himself. My job is to listen and understand what he wants to feel comfortable with.”
There were meetings, readings, trips to Rio, and long conversations.
“There was a mix between what he wanted and what I envisioned. I wanted to show his complexity: painter, engraver, draughtsman. He’s versatile. Despite his experience, he’s very young at what he does.” She says anxiety is the driver.
“Aquila’s work contains a strong experience, a connection with the joy of making. It is a ‘work in progress’. It is always moving. I have tried to show a little of all the possibilities it has, but no exhibition covers its entire world.”
The bond also includes shared emotions. Aquila says she was happy to discover that she was the granddaughter of an important couple in her previous life in Brasilia.
“When I saw her work and learned that she was the granddaughter of these two, I was fascinated. These genealogies interest me. We see her engaging with herself without emotional boundaries.”
Regarding this relationship, Renata shared:
“We have a relationship that I think goes beyond the professional issue. It’s also about knowing some people in my family, who also lived in Brasilia in the 1960s and thus formed an emotional and professional duo.”
Aquila’s intimate carnival
A phrase said years ago marked the night. Coordinator and researcher Tarciso Viriato recalled during the conversation:
“Someone asked me: ‘Why do you paint and stuff?’ and I said: ‘Because there’s a party at the end.’ I never forgot that.”
Aquila smiled and added, “My studio is a carnival, right? Every time I go to the studio, I’ll go to a carnival party.”
Watch the mini-documentary about the great artist Luiz Aquila:
The Aquila Carnival, despite its roots in Brasilia, owes much to its connection to the great city:
“I see my work expanding. It has become more spacious and more open. Using more contrasting colours. There has been a big influence of Rio in my work. My city, my inspiration, is Rio de Janeiro. Rio has opened the way for me.”
This spirit – light, spontaneous and fiercely committed – runs through Boogie Woogie. They are expansive, chromatic, and organic works that translate what he himself calls “a remarkable achievement”:
“There is something accomplished about persisting and continuing to paint. Making painting reinvent itself. There is the achievement of the young artist in discoveries, and the achievement of the not-so-young artist, confirming what he has already done.”
Guests enjoy Boogie Woogie
Perpetual gesture
For Onis, the gallery’s history is supported by what remains: the artists, the works, and memory.
“Collections should include artists from their region and era. Art is an investment, it is decoration, but above all, it is a record of history.”
Regarding the history and path of the reference, the exhibition owner says:
“What motivated us, in the beginning, was exactly this passion, the need to encourage artists here, to represent the Midwest. And that’s what drives us, to this day.”
The Aquila exhibition sums up this journey. It not only reconsiders the trajectory of the exhibition, but reaffirms its mission of looking at the present with firm roots in the region.
“Development in art is not linear. Previous work is still as valid as current work. Therefore, there is no hierarchy in time.”
Boogie Woogie is therefore a party, a reunion and a renewal – an intimate carnival. A sign of maturity that stubbornly continues to be born young.
The spirit of Aquila is the spirit of the constant transformation of painting, of the anxiety in the making of painting. His work has a relationship with pleasure, a relationship with the joy of drawing, with the joy of making.
Renata Azambuga
Check out the clicks from the event:
José Roseldite de Oliveira, Onís Moraes, Renata Azambuga, and Luiz Aquila
Louise Aquila, Lara Alvim and Chico Alvim
Raquel Nava and Patricia Bagniewski
Paulo Moraes, Emerson Dionisio, Onis Moraes, José Roseldet de Oliveira, and Juliana Santana
Luiz Aquila, Vania Castro, Ines Zatz, and João Antonio
Tarciso Veriato
Pedro Sassi, Nina Miranda and Joana Alvim
Fernando Bueno, Alessandra France, Luciana Paiva, and Marcio Borsoy
Vania Moraes, Beto Osorio, José Roseldite de Oliveira, Onis Moraes, and Paulo Moraes
Andre Santangelo
Artworks by artist Louise Aquila
José Roseldite de Oliveira, Issa Estrella de Oliveira, Onis Moraes, and Nicole Estrella Casero
Renata Azambuga
Ivan Valencia and Paulo Moraes
Lea Giuliana and Vania Moraes
Paulo Vega Jr., Fernando Bueno and Leo Tavares
Junio Guedes Dias
Gleneo Lima, Darlan Rosa, and Celia Rosa
Luisa Mader, Samantha Canovas and Nuara Visintin
Barbara Moreira, Sinara Barbosa and Gustavo Tomé
A dialogue circle to celebrate and talk about the anniversary of the establishment of the exhibition
service:
Boogie woogie
Paintings, engravings and silkscreens by Louise Aquila in the Reference Art Gallery; Main Room and Assembly Room (202 Norte, Building B, Shop 11, Basement)
Coordinator: Renata Azambuga
Opening: 11/25/2025, from 6 pm to 8 pm
Visit: until 01/17/2026 DrMonday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday from 10am to 3pm with andFree entryFree for all audiences
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