Teresinha Soares, the influential Brazilian artist whose bold Pop-inspired work explored themes of sexuality, politics, and social justice, has passed away, leaving behind a powerful and enduring artistic legacy.

Born in Minas Gerais, Soares studied at the Universidad Mineira das Artes in Belo Horizonte, graduating in 1965 during a period when Brazil’s military dictatorship was tightening its control over artistic and political expression. Despite the restrictive climate, she developed a fearless artistic voice. Her work often incorporated provocative imagery—mouths, breasts, genitals, and liberated female forms—challenging societal norms and confronting taboos surrounding sexuality and gender. Her daring approach attracted both attention and controversy, with headlines at the time emphasizing her defiance of convention.

In the late 1960s, Soares expanded her practice to include shaped wooden-panel paintings that addressed pressing global and local issues. Her work engaged with topics such as the Vietnam War, American imperialism, sexual repression, the oppression of women, and the brutal realities of political imprisonment in Brazil. One notable piece from this era, So Many Men Die and I Am Here So Lonely (series Vietnam) (1968), used the visual language of a film negative to depict intertwined figures, leaving viewers to question whether they were engaged in conflict or intimacy.

In 1976, at the height of her creative momentum, Soares unexpectedly stepped away from making art—a decision she later said she could not fully explain. Nevertheless, her contributions were rediscovered and celebrated decades later through major international exhibitions, including The World Goes Pop at Tate Modern in London in 2015 and Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985 in 2018.

Her work was further honored in a 2019 retrospective at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo. Teresinha Soares is survived by her daughter, artist Valeria Soares, and will be remembered as a pioneering voice in contemporary art.