04.06. - 11.07.2026

Galerija "Māksla XO"

Elizabetes iela 14, Rīga, LV 1010

LUCIANA MARIANO

Dreams, Secrets and Treasures

“Naïve dreams of surreal ideas. Tea is served on a silver tray with more pots than cups. Windows, passages, holes to cloudy skies, on a chaotic red sky with a golden moon. The night firmament is reflected in the tiny pond; deep waters and the movement of a single drop. Many possibilities and paths, traps and magic. We float and flow, we drip and dream.
[…]
We always have what we need to survive and we lose what no longer serves us. We adapt, we keep secrets, we play. The truth is in front of us and we keep chasing hope, butterflies, dreams and bubbles. We are captives to our stories, conditionings, time, and yet, absolutely free to dare,” – Luciana Mariano, 2026.

A Brazilian painter of Italian and Portuguese descent, who has now found her home and family in Finland. A naïve painter in the third generation of her family – Luciana Mariano is an outsider of contemporary painting with a vibrant, colourful, humour-filled and provocative feminine narrative. Her work possesses both a childlike lightness and directness, an analytically sharp observation, and at the same time a warm, accessible manner of expression. Luciana Mariano is a storyteller both on her canvases and in the texts and poetry that accompany her paintings. She is not a quiet, standoffish observer – rather, she is a rebel and an outspoken documentarian of reality. (Ilze Zeivate)

“Being born and raised in South America, I had two choices: comply or rebel. I am definitely a rebel. For too long, I have observed women around the world being abused. Through my art, even as a very subjective, modest contribution, I try to touch subjects like gender, race, social equality, justice, freedom, choice, empathy, and human rights. Artists can’t fix the world… but we can paint it,” – Luciana Mariano.

In her latest solo exhibition “Dreams, Secrets and Treasures”, Luciana Mariano explores the hidden emotions of the human experience, the symbolism of memory and objects, through dreamlike compositions – the quiet poetry of everyday life. Combining contemporary naïve art with the visual language of surrealism, she invites the viewer to enter worlds where tenderness, mystery and humour coexist.
At Maksla XO, this is already Luciana Mariano’s third solo exhibition in Latvia, captivating both contemporary art professionals and international art enthusiasts. (Ilze Zeivate)

Luciana Mariano (1971) was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil. Currently she lives and works in Pirkkala, Finland. Since 2008 she has participated in more than 40 group exhibitions and arranged 20 solo shows worldwide. Luciana Mariano was chosen as the naïve art representative for the 2010 Cow Parade in São Paulo, Brazil; in 2012, she created the “The World is our Home” mural in Wembley, UK, commissioned by Seneca Project.
The artist’s works in public collections: MIMAN – Museu Internacional de Miniatures de Arte Naif (Paraty-Rio de Janero, Brazil), MIAN – Museu Internacional de Arte Naif (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Museu de Arte de Batatais (Batatais-San Paulo, Brazil), Museu do Sol (Penápolis-Sao Paulo, Brazil), Musée d’Art Spontané (Brussels, Belgium), Bulgarian Naif Museum (Sofia, Bulgaria), Castle Lysice Collection (Lysice, Czech Republic), Kondase Keskus Museum (Viljandi, Estonia).