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Brazilian artist Rafael Silveira’s paintings in the solo exhibition “Popsicledelic Trip” at KP Projects Gallery in Los Angeles connect familiar objects, bodies and natural forms. Silveira describes these unexpected visual pairings as “visual synonymies”; the exhibition’s popsicle-shaped works draw a connection between the outline of a frozen treat and historic religious paintings.
Brazilian artist Rafael Silveira recently presented surreal paintings in “Popsicledelic Trip,” a solo exhibition at KP Projects Gallery in Los Angeles, using unexpected combinations of faces, plants, animals and everyday objects to explore what he calls “visual synonymies.” The show’s popsicle-shaped compositions link a familiar frozen treat to the rounded-top format of historic religious paintings, bringing popular imagery into conversation with devotional art.
Silveira’s paintings replace or combine facial features with landforms, flowers and animals. In the works described in the report, a flower may stand in for an eye, a horizon for a mouth, or a tree for a head. Other compositions place objects in unlikely settings, including ice cream cones that appear like planets in a starry sky. These pairings are surreal, but the artist’s stated interest is in the visual relationships between things that might otherwise seem unrelated.
The exhibition included a series of vertical works in ornate, hand-carved wooden frames whose outline resembles a popsicle. Some figures hold oversized versions of the frozen treat in compositions that the report describes as making a stylistic nod to Renaissance religious art. Works identified include Exit (2026), an oil painting on canvas measuring 150 by 100 centimeters, and The Epiphany (2026), an oil painting on hand-carved wood panel measuring 50 by 105 centimeters.
Other listed works include We Are On the Same Page, Wonders of Human Nature, My God Is the Sun, Early Bird, Cosmic Bioma and Multiverse Is My Backyard, all dated 2026. The exhibition appeared alongside a show by Silveira’s wife, artist Flávia Itiberê. The source report does not provide visitor numbers, sales information or a closing date.
How Popsicles Echo Sacred Art
The exhibition’s central visual connection turns on the shape of the paintings as much as their subject matter. Silveira points to the tavola centinata, a canvas or relief format with a squared base and rounded top, associated with Gothic and early Renaissance painting. That outline also resembles a classic popsicle, allowing the frame itself to connect an art-historical form with an everyday treat.
The pairing matters because it makes the boundary between high art and popular imagery part of the work. In the artist’s account, the popsicle’s temporary, melting nature contrasts with the devotional associations and durability of an altarpiece. The paintings do not simply use a playful object as decoration; they place ephemeral pleasure beside spiritual permanence and invite viewers to notice how one shape can carry different meanings.
Silveira’s approach also offers a way to read the more improbable combinations across the exhibition. A plant, a face and a landscape may look separate at first, but the compositions ask viewers to consider their shared forms and coexistence. That is an artistic proposition, rather than a scientific claim: the report presents the connections as Silveira’s interpretation of the world.
surreal art prints Rafael Silveira
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Silveira’s Idea of Visual Synonymies
Silveira describes “visual synonymies” as formal correspondences between seemingly unrelated things, or moments when one image unexpectedly recognizes itself in another. The idea helps explain why his paintings bring together human figures, animals, plants and objects rather than keeping them in separate visual categories.
The report places the work in a longer interest in surreal imagery, but focuses on this recent exhibition and its popsicle motif. Silveira says the treat represents a broader idea that different things can exist simultaneously, even when their combination initially appears absurd. The show’s links to religious painting come through both the framing and the figures holding giant frozen treats, rather than through a stated religious message from the gallery.
KP Projects Gallery hosted “Popsicledelic Trip” alongside an exhibition by Itiberê. The available source identifies the works and their materials and dimensions, but gives no further account of the gallery’s programme or the reception of either show.
Exhibition Details Not Reported
The source says the works were recently included in the Los Angeles exhibition, but does not state the show’s opening or closing dates, whether it remains on view, or whether the listed works are still available to see. It also offers no information about attendance, sales, or responses from visitors and critics.
The descriptions of the imagery and its connections to religious art are reported as features of the paintings and as Silveira’s own framing. The available material does not establish that every viewer will interpret the combinations in the same way, nor does it provide additional commentary from the gallery or Itiberê.
Where to See More Work
The source report directs readers to Silveira’s Instagram to see more of his work. It does not announce another exhibition, a future gallery date or a related programme. Readers seeking to visit “Popsicledelic Trip” would need to check with KP Projects Gallery for the show’s current status and any remaining viewing opportunities.
Key Questions
What is “Popsicledelic Trip”?
It is a solo exhibition of paintings by Rafael Silveira recently shown at KP Projects Gallery in Los Angeles. It appeared alongside a show by his wife, artist Flávia Itiberê.
What does Silveira mean by “visual synonymies”?
Silveira uses the term for formal correspondences between things that seem unrelated—moments when one image unexpectedly resembles or connects with another.
Why do some paintings and frames resemble popsicles?
The report says some vertical works have rounded tops and squared bases, echoing the tavola centinata format associated with Gothic and early Renaissance art. That outline also resembles a classic popsicle.
Which works were named in the report?
The listed 2026 works include Exit, We Are On the Same Page, Wonders of Human Nature, My God Is the Sun, Early Bird, Cosmic Bioma, The Epiphany and Multiverse Is My Backyard.
Is the exhibition still open?
The source describes the exhibition as recent but does not give its dates or current status. Check with KP Projects Gallery for up-to-date viewing information.
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