Arthur Luiz Piza was born in San Paulo (Brazil) in 1928. At a very young age, he began his studies in art, in painting, as a student of Antonio Gomide. He settled in Paris in 1951. Living in post-war Montparnasse, Piza regularly attended Friedlaender’s engraving workshop, developing his techniques in copper engraving, etching and intaglio.
From the time of his arrival in France, the artist participated in a large number of group exhibitions, both in his host country and abroad (San Paulo Biennale, the Biennale of Ljubljana, the Grenchen Print Biennale, Kassel Documenta, Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, etc.), the recipient of numerous first prizes. He also presented his work in solo exhibitions in Brazil and France; in the Galerie La Hune (Paris), he had a dozen shows between 1953 and 1991.
From 1958, Piza devoted himself primarily to burin engraving. Starting from this period, the artist created reliefs and collages, as well as sculpted objects, porcelain and jewellery. During the 1960’s, Arthur Luiz Piza became known as one of the most compelling representatives of the art of engraving. His style is very personal: the plate is cut, gashed, gouged, hammered, sculpted in small, successive marks that, like scales, interlock and overlap; hollows become volumes. The artist works with the perception of matter, matter that is imaginary and poeticised. The colours used by the artist are often ochres, muted and subdued. Arthur Luiz Piza lives and works in Paris.
