About

Janaina Mello Landini (São Gotardo, MG, Brazil, 1974) lives and works in São Paulo. An architect by training from UFMG, with subsequent studies in Fine Arts at the same institution, her research articulates knowledge of architecture, physics, and mathematics. Her production, which circulates widely internationally, encompasses works of an intimate scale as well as large-scale immersive installations.
In 2010, Janaina Mello Landini coined the neologism "ciclotrama" to name the central research she has been developing ever since. In this investigation, the artist brings together structural mathematics and philosophy to consider how the unit connects to the whole within network systems. Beginning with a single thread, her Ciclotramas constitute cyclic webs guided by algorithms that incorporate the physical variations of matter, in dialogue with fractal geometry. This system is shaped by forces such as weight, torsion, tension, and time, meaning that minor variations and irregularities become part of the artwork, which then represents a fragment of a continuous and infinite process.
In Janaina Mello Landini’s work, ropes that unravel into minimal filaments, threads that occupy entire walls, and webs that expand from plane to volume operate as devices through which the artist investigates the relationship between matter, gesture, and time. Collaborative performances and immersive installations also punctuate her career, expanding the participatory dimension of her practice.
Another highlight in the artist's body of work is the Labirinto (Labyrinth) series, composed of works that articulate multiple points of view by shifting classical geometry towards a decentralised perspective. Satin, a recurring material in the series, reflects light according to the viewer's gaze, providing a visual experience of continuous immersion through the constructed space.
Janaina has held six solo exhibitions at Zipper Galeria, including Acorda (2026, curated by Marcello Dantas, where she incorporates elements such as fungi, branches, stones, salt, charcoal, moss and potassium into her vocabulary for the first time), Bosque Neural (2024), Espaço Preso (2022), Aqui, agora (2019), Labirinto Sintrópico (2016), and Ciclotrama 20 (onda) (2015). She has also held international solo exhibitions: Amulet at the Ilulissat Kunstmuseum (Greenland, 2024); Ciclotrama (retrospective) at Akerk (Groningen, Netherlands, 2024).
In 2026, she is part of the retrospective Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses at the Brooklyn Museum (New York), a touring exhibition that also travelled to MAD Paris (2023), QAGOMA Brisbane (2024), ArtScience Singapore, and Kunsthal Rotterdam (2025). In the same year, her work Ciclotrama 156 (Palindrome) was chosen by musician Peter Gabriel to illustrate "Been Undone", the first release of the o\i project, placing her alongside artists such as Francis Alÿs and Tomás Sarraceno. She participated in the 13th Mercosul Biennial (Porto Alegre, 2022), the Rijswijk Textile Biennial (Netherlands, 2017), and in exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2016), the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire (France, 2019), and has a permanent work at the Fondation Carmignac (Porquerolles Island, 2018).
Her works are part of collections such as the MAD Paris (French National Collection), Fondation Thalie (France), Fondation Carmignac (France), BIC Collection (France), MAR (Rio de Janeiro), Facebook (Menlo Park), FAMA Museu (Itu), and The Graeme and Mabie Briggs Collection of Latin American Art (Australia).
Curriculum
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Galerie Virginie Louvet, Paris, France.
2017
Galeria Macca, Caglari, Italy.
2015
Galerie Virginie Louvet, Paris, France.
2011
Desvio, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2010
Espaço 2010, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
Osaka, Bangkok, Paris, New York.
São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Kunsthal Museum, Rotterdam, Netherland and ArtScience Museum, Singapore.
City squares in: Porto Velho (RO), Palmas (TO), Fortaleza (CE), Petr.polis (RJ), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Niteroi (RJ), Paraty (RJ), São Paulo (SP), Brazil.
ICD Brookfield, Dubai, UEA.
2024
QAGOMA, Brisbane, Australia.
2023
MAD, Paris, France, Itinerant exhibition.
2022
Fondation LAccolade, Paris, France.
Võgele Kultur Zentrum, Zurich, Switzerland.
ICD Brookfield, Dubai, UEA.
Museu Pablo Grargallo, Zaragoza, Spain.
Galerie Virginie Louvet, Paris, France.
Fondation Good Planet, Paris, France.
CCBB, Brasilia, Brazil.
On-line Viewing Room - Zipper Galeria, São Paulo, Brazil.
Musée du Textile de Cholet, France.
MAIF Social Club, Paris, France.
Galeria do BNDS, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2018
Marina da Gloria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Galeria Otros 360, Bogotá, Colombia.
Hamburg, Germany.
Minas Tênis Clube Cultural Center, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Correios Cultural Center, São Paulo, Brazil.
2015
Correios Cultural Center, Brasília, Brazil.
Sandra Cinto, Albano Afonso and Ateliê Fidalga
Fine Art Laboratory, Art University of Musashino
Tokyo, Japan.
2014
Florence, Italy.
Paço das Artes, São Paulo, Brazil.
National Museum, Brasilia, Brazil.
SESC Palladium, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2013
Belem, Brazil.
Paraty, Brazil.
Araras, Brazil.