Nina Pandolfo (Tupã, SP, Brazil, 1977) lives and works in São Paulo, where she moved as a child. She belongs to a generation of Brazilian artists who developed their visual language through graffiti in the 1990s and achieved institutional recognition in galleries and museums around the world in the following decade. She began painting walls as a teenager, in what was then a markedly male-dominated scene. Her large-eyed female figures, which appeared first on small canvases before moving onto large building facades, became the most distinctive hallmark of her work.
Pandolfo's visual world centers on youthful, expressive-eyed characters set amid color-saturated environments. Oversized heads and eyes, small mouths, and fine lines define her figures.
Over the past three decades, this repertoire has expanded to include cats, bees, birds, and other creatures, enlarging the symbolic fauna of her compositions. The playful appearance of her images does not stop at their decorative surface: Pandolfo paints for adults, seeking to engage the childlike dimension that persists in every viewer, whether the encounter feels comfortable or unsettling. This involves a deliberate shift: the softness of her line becomes an entry point to more complex emotional states connected to vulnerability and affective memory.
Pandolfo held the solo exhibition Suplementos at Zipper Galeria (São Paulo, 2023). She has also presented Portais at Farol Santander (São Paulo, 2026); Morada at Shopping Pátio Higienópolis (São Paulo, 2025); Gratitude at the Heydar Aliyev Center (Baku, Azerbaijan, 2021) and JD Malat Gallery (London, 2019); Beyond Meninas at Lazarides (London, 2016); Little Things for Life at the Coburn Project (New York, 2015); a solo exhibition at Museu de Arte Contemporânea de São Paulo / MAC USP (2014); Serendipidade at Galeria Leme (São Paulo, 2013); Feelings at Lazarides (London, 2012) and Outsiders Lazarides (Newcastle, 2013); Life's Flavor at Carmichael Gallery (Los Angeles, 2010); Desafiando Sonhos at Galeria Leme (São Paulo, 2010); Between Us at Gallery Maskara (Mumbai, 2008); Aos Nossos Olhos at Galeria Leme (São Paulo, 2008); and Jujuba & Lollipop at ICBRA Gallery (Berlin, 2003).
Since 2024, she has been part of the touring exhibition Mama - Mother Nature, which has traveled to the Heydar Aliyev Center (Baku, 2024), Bahrain National Museum (Manama), Museo MAXXI (Rome), Tsereteli Museum of Modern Art (Tbilisi), and Berlin (2025), and was scheduled to travel to COD in Tirana (Albania, 2026). She has participated in the 9th Havana Biennial (2006), Still Here: A Decade of Lazarides (London, 2016), and group exhibitions in Düsseldorf, San Juan, Örebro, Los Angeles, and Berlin.
In 2007, she joined the group of Brazilian artists who painted the facade of Kelburn Castle in Glasgow, Scotland, alongside OsGemeos and Nunca. Intended as a temporary intervention, the project became a local landmark. Other significant projects include The Wynwood Walls (Deitch Projects x Goldman Properties, Miami, 2009), Painter's Toile for the FENDI Baguette (2013), and murals for Chromopolis at the Athens Olympic Games (2004).
She has published the books Nina (Master Books, 2011) and Por Trás das Cores (Master Books, 2016). Her work is featured in key street-art publications, including Graffiti World (Thames & Hudson, 2004), Graffiti Brasil (Thames & Hudson, 2005), Street Art (Tate Publishing, 2008), and Graffiti and Street Art (Thames & Hudson, 2011). She also appears in the documentaries Cidade Cinza (2013) and Street Heroines (2021), as well as in Cada Voz, a series by Itaú Cultural (2020).