Natalia de Campos & Thiago Szmrecsányi

“With some of our projects, […] I think we saw some sparks as results, and in people who weren’t particularly seeing the world through an artistic lens before that interaction.”

— Natalia de Campos

studioELL is thrilled to welcome Natalia de Campos and Thiago Szmrecsányi as part of our Autumn Term studioVISIT series. studioVISIT is a visiting artist program devoted to providing unique access into an artist’s studio with insights into their practice and discussions on broader issues of activism, social connectivity and community. A break from our typical format, we present this long read as a series of pages for ease and flow.

Natalia de Campos is a multidisciplinary artist & activist from São Paulo, Brazil working in performance, video, sound, writing, interactive media, theater, and as an actor, theater director, producer, researcher, educator and translator. Natalia has lived in New York since 1998. She has a BA in History from the University of São Paulo, a professional license as an actor, and an MFA in Performance & Interactive Media Arts from Brooklyn College, CUNY. Since 1999, Natalia produces multidisciplinary performances with international collaborators, objects and solo works under the name of Syncretic Pleasures. Her works have been shown primarily in New York City and in São Paulo. Some venues include: Chashama 461 Gallery, Art in Odd Places: SENSE 2017; Festival de Música Estranha (São Paulo 2015); The Living Theater, 70th Anniversary Retrospective (SESC São Paulo 2017); Center for the Humanities, Graduate Center, CUNY (2019); El Museo del Barrio; DUMBO Arts Festival; solivagant gallery (Lower East Side, 2016). Natalia has shared a studio with Thiago Szmrecsányi since 2001. She has taught Portuguese for 20 years at schools and independently and was an assistant teacher at New York’s School of Visual Arts City As Site Program.

Thiago Szmrecsányi is a Brazilian visual artist primarily working as a sculptor and in social interactions. Thiago has been living in NY since 1994. He holds a BA from Hunter College and is the recipient of the Artists Space Independent Project Grant for his curatorial work insert produced for the Cuchifritos Gallery and the Essex Street Market. Recent exhibits include: Território Transitório at Sé Galeria, São Paulo, 2015 (solo), Jamaica Flux 2016, Colosseum Mall and Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, 2016 (catalogue), ART&COM Re-location, Emma Thomas Gallery, Lower East Side/NY, 2016-17: and SP Arte 2017 at Emma Tomas Epicentro Jardins, São Paulo, 2017 Collective Bargain, Art in Odd Places, 14th Street, 2017; (C)art, Rufus King Museum, Jamaica, Queens, 2018, Playthings and Performing Objects, Art Gallery Staten Island College, 2019 (catalogue): Animated Objects and Resistant Bodies, Center for the Humanities, Martin Segal Theatre, The Graduate Center, CUNY, 2019. Thiago also designs sets and spaces for performance. His design was shown at Chashama 461 Gallery, Harlem, The Flamboyan Theater at The Clemente Cultural Center, LES, The Connelly Theater, and at Hostos Theater. As an exhibition designer he has produced shows for the Henry Street settlement, the Hostos Center for Arts and Culture, and others.