Ana Jotta

Ana Jotta (b. 1946, Lisbon, Portugal) lives in Lisbon. Jotta makes painting and sculptures. Her work always includes an erasure: of her own previous footsteps; of modernist ideology and post-mortem mythologies; and of the notion of authorship – either by deconstructing it or rebuilding it. From 1976-79 she was an actress and stage designer with Produções Teatrais, Universidade Clássica, Lisbon, Portugal (1976-79). From the 1980’s onwards, she focused her activity on the visual arts. 

For Liverpool Biennial 2016, Jotta’s wallpaper at Cains Brewery has been created from the pages of her 2014 book Footnotes, which portrays the numerous objects and paraphernalia that she has been collecting over many years. Not overly attached to these objects, Jotta often throws them away, but not before they have helped her to generate the next work. 

At Master Chef Restaurant, Jotta’s ‘background’ paintings, titled No No Sir!, were painted with the restaurant in mind. The colours are reminiscent of antique green pottery that the artist saw in a magazine whilst on her train to Liverpool. 

The artist has also disguised as a brick wall one of three Arriva double-decker buses circulating the city throughout the festival and beyond.  

Solo exhitibitons include venues such as Culturgest, Lisbon, Portugal (The Conclusion of the Precedent, 2014); and Museu de Serralves, Porto, Portugal (Rua Ana Jotta: Retrospective, 2005).

Ana Jotta at Liverpool Biennial 2016

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Mrs. Muir, 2016
Camouflaged red brick bus
Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial in partnership with Arriva
On view at select Arriva bus routes in the city

No No Sir!, 2016
Acrylic on canvas
Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial
Exhibited at Master Chef Restaurant

Cassandra II, 2016
Wallpaper
Exhibited at Cains Brewery