Zilia Sánchez, painter who worked with erotic abstraction, dies at 98.

Cuban artist Zilia Sánchez, known for her multidimensional paintings that challenge Minimalism with abstract, erotic forms, has died at the age 98. Her death was confirmed by the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico and Galerie Lelong & Co., which has represented the artist since 2013.

Sánchez’s work, characterized by canvases that bulge outward, was distinct within the Minimalist style of her era, asserting a bodily presence in her work. Her work Lunar (1980) was featured prominently in this year’s Venice Biennale exhibition, the second time she participated in the preeminent biennial, and one of many queer, older artists included. Sánchez’s latest solo exhibition, “Topologías / Topologies,” was displayed at the ICA Miami from April 20th to October 13th. It is scheduled to travel to the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in San Juan in spring 2025.

Born in Havana in 1926, Sánchez was introduced to art by her father, along with her childhood neighbor, Cuban artist Victor Manuel. She studied the arts at Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro, which she graduated from in 1947. Throughout the 1950s, Sánchez gained significant recognition for her early abstract paintings. She presented her first solo exhibition at the Havana Lyceum in 1953. The artist then represented Cuba in the Bienal de México in 1958 and the Bienal de São Paulo in 1959.

Shortly after the Cuban Revolution, Sánchez decided to live abroad, moving to New York in 1962. There, she worked as an illustrator, supporting her studies in printmaking at Pratt Institute. She spent about 10 years in the city, where her work adopted characteristics of the Minimalist movement, such as smoother canvases, and a greyscale palette. Her dimensional works were created by stretching the canvases over hand-crafted wooden sculptures. These works, unlike those of her contemporaries, explored the female form in works that became known as “Erotic Topologies.”

Sánchez relocated to Puerto Rico in 1971. During her time there, the artist scaled up her abstract works, designing the facades of apartment buildings. Meanwhile, she also contributed to designs for the short-lived publication Zona Carga y Descarga. For the next few decades, her recognition declined outside of the Puerto Rican art community.

In recent years, Sánchez’s work achieved notable recognition in the U.S. and internationally. In 2019, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. showcased her retrospective “Zilia Sánchez: Soy Isla (I Am an Island),” which later toured to New York’s El Museo del Barrio and the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico.