Cynthia Hawkins in her studio, Rochester, New York, 2023. Photo by Todd Fleming.
We are delighted to announce that Cynthia Hawkins will be included in the 36th Bienal de São Paulo. Titled Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice, the exhibition is curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, with co-curators Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Thiago de Paula Souza, and Keyna Eleison, the curator at large. The exhibition will take place from September 6, 2025 to January 11, 2026 at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion in São Paulo.
The Bienal’s title is derived from the poem “Da calma e do silêncio” by Conceição Evaristo and proposes an urgent reflection on humanity, nature, and listening in times of global crisis. Hawkins is one of 120 participants.
Since 1972, Cynthia Hawkins (b. 1950, Queens, NY) has consistently painted abstractly and in series, exploring diverse literary, philosophical, and scientific influences through work that is rich in color and meaning. Hawkins recently had her first one-person exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery, titled Cynthia Hawkins: Maps Necessary for a Walk in 4D. Hawkins received a BA in painting from the Queens College, City University of New York in 1977 and an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art in 1992. She has exhibited widely in New York and the United States throughout her career and her work is in numerous public collections, including The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York; Kenkeleba Gallery, New York; The La Grange Art Museum, Georgia; and the Department of State, Washington, D.C. Hawkins has received numerous awards, including the Helen Frankenthaler Award for Painting (2023); the Black Metropolis Research Consortium Fellowship (2009); The Herbert and Irene Wheeler Grant (1995); and the Brooklyn Museum Art School Scholarship (1972).