Vibrant colors shock and awe, overwhelming the senses in the paintings of Monica Mendes. Inspired by Brazilian culture, its people and celebrations, Mendes captures the spirit of her subjects in their inexplicable realism. Channeling a Cézanne-like cubist aesthetic, her portraits of architectural urban spaces sprawl, droop, and play taking the viewer into the favelas and festivals of her native Brazil. Concerned with the challenges faced by the people living in a nation rife with poverty and social injustice, Mendes chooses to render her subjects realistically allowing the viewer to enter the space and experience the colorful and noble life of someone living amongst the favelas and Brazil’s impoverished communities.