Lucrecia Zappi is a writer and painter born in Buenos Aires and raised between São Paulo and Mexico City. Her work has long moved between literature and visual art. Before turning more fully to painting, she spent several years writing about contemporary art for Folha de S.Paulo, one of Brazil’s leading newspapers, and contributed essays and criticism on art and culture to publications including Artforum and Vogue. Her involvement with art has also extended to curatorial work: in 2015, she co-curated an exhibition at Luhring Augustine bringing together three generations of Brazilian artists in dialogue with the legacy of Neo-Concretism.

Zappi studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, Philosophy at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and Journalism at Universidade Metodista de São Paulo. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from New York University.

Zappi began collaborating with Central Fine in 2025, taking part in two group shows and Art Basel Miami Beach that year. Her first solo presentation with the gallery followed in 2026.

Alongside her visual practice, Zappi is an award-winning author. Her first book, Mil-folhas, received the Bologna Ragazzi Award. She is also the author of the novels Onça Preta (2013), Acre (2017), a finalist for Brazil’s Jabuti Prize, and Degelo(2023). Degelo was published in France by Actes Sud in 2026 and is forthcoming in Mexico with Fondo de Cultura Económica.

As in her fiction, Zappi’s paintings are attentive to what people reveal indirectly. Rather than treating space as background, she uses it to register psychological and social experience - the shifting territory between what is seen, what is lived, what is remembered, and what remains just outside the frame.

Education

2011    MA Creative Writing, New York University, New York, NY

2006    BA Journalism, Universidade Metodista de São Paulo, São Paulo

1994    Studies in Philosophy, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

1991    Studies in Painting, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam

Solo Exhibitions

2026    Higher Bodies, CENTRAL FINE, Miami, FL

Group Exhibitions

2025    Art Basel Miami Beach, CENTRAL FINE, Miami Beach, FL

2025    Double Negative, CENTRAL FINE, Miami, FL

2025    El Otro Pozo Ciego/ Night Vision, CENTRAL FINE, Miami, FL

Selected Art & Curatorial Projects

2026    The Crossing, diptych - forthcoming projection, American Composers Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

2017    Entr’Actes, Hermès, Geneva, Switzerland; collaboration with Rodrigo Matheus

2015    Empty House / Casa Vazia, New York, NY

Co-curatorial project exploring three generations of Brazilian artists and Neo-Concretism.

Awards/ Honors

2017    Finalist, Jabuti Prize, Brazilian Book Chamber, São Paulo, Brazil - Acre

2017    Finalist, Prêmio Bravo! de Cultura, Best Book, São Paulo, Brazil - Acre

2011    Bologna Ragazzi Award, New Horizons, Bologna, Italy - Mil Folhas

2011    The White Ravens Selection, International Youth Library, Munich, Germany - Mil Folhas

Residencies

2025 Ucross Foundation Artist Residency, Clearmont, WY

Selected Publications

2026    Dégel - Actes Sud, France

2026    Deshielo - Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico, forthcoming

2023    Degelo - Todavia, Brazil

2023    Deshielo - La Huerta Grande, Spain

2017    Acre - Todavia, Brazil

2017    Acre - La Huerta Grande, Spain

2013    Onça Preta - Benvirá, Brazil

2013    Jaguar Negro - La Huerta Grande, Spain

2009    Mil Folhas: História Ilustrada do Doce - Cosac Naify, Brazil

Selected Festivals/ Talks

2024    Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara, Mexico

2023    Feria Internacional del Libro Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

2023    Miami Book Fair, Miami

2023    Fliaraxá, Araxá, Brazil

2020    Fliaraxá, Araxá, Brazil

2017    Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara, Mexico

2017    PEN World Voices Festival, New York

2016    Miami Book Fair, Miami

2013    Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara, Mexico

Selected Additional Appearances

FOLIO - Óbidos International Literary Festival, Portugal

Buenos Aires International Book Fair, Argentina

Selected Writing & Journalism

Folha de S.Paulo - reporter and writer specializing in contemporary visual art (from 2003); monthly fiction columnist (2025/26)

Contributor on art and culture to Artforum, Vogue, and other publications

Zappi’s own Translations

Onça Preta - Portuguese to Spanish, La Huerta Grande

Edward van de Vendel, A Million Butterflies - Dutch to Portuguese, Cosac Naify

Carl Norac, Monster, Don’t Eat Me! - Dutch to Portuguese, Cosac Naify

Selected essays by Max Risselada for The Architecture of Lelé - Museu da Casa Brasileira