Born in São Paulo, Flávia Junqueira takes the visual universe of childhood and the construction of an imaginary around this period of life as the inspiration and starting point for her creations, in which scenes from the real and the fictional, the physical and the allegorical, the present and the past, the adult and the child come together and interconnect. The artist uses photography and scenography in architectural or open spaces to create atmospheres of illusionism and enchantment.
She is known for photographing historic heritage sites filled with helium balloons, thus conceiving scenes that combine the real with the fictional, the present with the past, the adult with the child.
The staged photography technique explored by Flávia Junqueira allows her to create meticulously planned images, in which every element is carefully selected and arranged to express preconceived concepts. Her choice of locations, mainly historic theatres and other culturally significant spaces, serves as a backdrop for her artistic interventions, reaffirming the power of these often-neglected places.
The poetic contrast of temporalities is a striking feature of her work, where classical heritage sites coexist with balloons, evoking the magic of childhood in historically rich settings. Junqueira has stated that her aim is to rescue forgotten spaces, granting them new life and narrative while deconstructing conventional expectations.
Although childhood is not the main focus of her work, it reveals a drive to explore atypical realities and playful elements as strategies for dealing with complex themes such as death and trauma.
Her works are held in prestigious collections such as MAR-RJ, MAM-SP, MIS-SP, MAB-FAAP, Museu do Itamaraty, RedBull Station, the World Bank and Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz. She holds a PhD from the Institute of Arts at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), an MA in Visual Poetics from the University of São Paulo, and a BA in Fine Arts from Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado, where she also completed a postgraduate program in photography.
Her name stands out through her participation in prominent projects and exhibitions such as "Culture and Conflict: IZOLYATSIA in Exile" at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2014), "The World Bank Art Program" at the Kaunas Photo Festival (2010), "Tomorrow I will be born again" at Cité des Arts (2011), and "Subjetivo Feminino: una Mirada Latino Americana", part of the Photo España project at Instituto Cervantes São Paulo (2009), as well as "Projeto para finais felizes" in the Projeto Season at Paço das Artes (São Paulo, 2013), awarded the Energias na Arte Prize from Instituto Tomie Ohtake in 2009. Other notable contributions include "Gorlovka" in the "Nova Fotografia" Itinerancy Program (2015) and "Tentativas e Apostas – Notas de um Processo" in the exhibition Red Bull House of Art – Artistic Residency São Paulo-SP (2010).
In recent years, she has presented a series of solo exhibitions and immersive installations that expand this research, including "Flávia Junqueira no Baile" at Sala Ali – Casa Bradesco (São Paulo, 2025); the immersive installation at Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 2025); "Alegoría" at Sorondo Projects in partnership with Reiners Contemporary (Barcelona, 2025); "Extasia" at Centro Cultural FIESP (São Paulo, 2024); the open-air project by Banca Galeria in Parque Ibirapuera (São Paulo, 2024); "The Absurd and the Grace" at Gilman Contemporary (United States, 2024); "Symphony of Illusions" at Galeria Voss (Düsseldorf, 2023); "Revoada #3" at Pátio Higienópolis (São Paulo, 2022); and the exhibitions "Revoada" at Farol Santander Porto Alegre and Farol Santander São Paulo (2021). At Zipper Galeria, where she has already held five solo exhibitions, highlights include "Rêverie" (São Paulo, 2024) and "Igrejas barrocas e cavalinhos de pau" (São Paulo, 2021), which deepen her investigation into memory, theatricality and enchantment within the exhibition space.