LIBERTÈ

Oil on canvas 60X100cm
Libertè. Liberty. Freedom. Lady Liberty.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
(State of Liberty Poem - engraved on a bronze plaque and contained inside of the Statue of Liberty.)

DETAILS

ABU GHRAIB

Oil on canvas 40X50cm

My great friend and painter Jay Huddelston once told me: "(...)You expressed disappointment with the influence art and artists are able to have over politics and social justice. I think our role is largely philosophical - like Socrates: "I am the gadfly." We serve by asking questions, and the visual and performing arts pose the questions in a vital way - through imagery - that people are able to understand and be touched by even if they wouldn't read an essay or even trouble with an editorial opinion in a newspaper. The most ordinary peasant can see Guernica and know the Spanish Civil War was evil, that Fascism is evil or they can see a play or a movie and come away with knowledge about AIDS or Islam or blood diamonds that they could have learned from National Geographic but they had no interest in reading. Just as songs are an improvement on poetry, art helps people digest philosophy. We cannot stop the war in Iraq, but we can question it, and we condemn the people responsible. Bush will be hated until the end of time - Art is eternal."

When I decided to paint about Abu Ghraib prison (inspired by Huddelston and Diego Rivera) I tried to find a shocking image that could express all the sickness and sadism of those specific american soldiers. Somehow I could see pleasure (almost sexual) in the face of the tortures in the Abu Ghraib pictures that were made famous worldwide after the Taguba Report in 2004.

DETAILS

THERE'S NO TIME FOR LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN

Oil on canvas 80x60cm

The Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Economicas (FIPE) researched by request of the town hall, the number of children living in the streets of São Paulo, Brazil. They enumerated 1842 children living by their own on the streets with any kind of adult surveillance. The research says they use distincts strategies to survive.

I worked on this painting on my painting school and was surprised by the reaction of the other students. For instance one old lady told me she would pray for me. People started look at me as I was crazy by "painting such a dreadful delinquent". "Who would buy this?". One lady asked why I couldn't paint something "usual". I told her: "We live in a city with more than 1800 children sleeping in the sidewalks and you are painting a german castle for weeks, now who is the one painting something unusual?".

FIPE - http://www.fipe.org.br/web/index.asp

DETAILS

TOO MUCH CANDY GONNA RIDE YOUR SOUL

Oil on canvas 40x60cm

Sometimes you start to paint and life is faster than your hands. I look at this painting and it has nothing to do with me! I don't recognize myself in this work. I'm much older now than when I started to paint this swing caroussel a few weeks ago. Years, maybe decades had passed... I fell weak and vulnerable. Why is all those people laughing when even love can make you miserable? Wouldn't be a good idea to cut all the cables?

DETAILS

STEP BY STEP

AS SOON AS YOU'RE BORN YOU START DYING

Oil on canvas 30X40cm

This is my first self portrait. It was supposed to be darker, almost in a grey scale but somehow it ended up like this. Maybe I'm not that glommy after all. I tooke inspiration on Jenny Saville's huge paintings. If you don't know her you must check out her work. She is amazing.

SAD LIGHTS

Oil on canvas 30x40 cm

This is lighter than it shows here but it is hard to take a good shoot when it's still wet.

I painted this over Stephen Magsig's City Lights #28. What a great painter. What great pleasure I had on this one.

SWING CAROUSSEL

Circus and amusement parks are themes that I love to paint. This is an oil on canvas, 40X60 cm and is not finished, of course.

DARK VOICE LIKE TINTED GLASS

Oil on masonite 20x20 cm

"Anger as soon as fed is dead-
'Tis starving makes it fat." Emily Dickinson

I think this is not finished. I intend to light the lips and to darken the veil.

MEANWHILE IN AMERICA...

Oil on canvas, 60X80 cm based on Timothy Horn's Bus Stop

According to the Iraq Body Count (http://www.iraqbodycount.org/) 81,639 - 89,110 documented civilians (strictly 'non-combatant') got killed in the Iraq war and occupation. 16 yesterday.

BUMBA-MEU-BOI

My mother is naïf art lover. She asked me for a painting characterized by a childlike simplicity.

I decided to paint the Bumba-meu-boi or Boi-bumbá, a folkloric dance originated in the northeast of Brazil circa XVIII century. The dance basically tells the story of death and resurrection of a fantastic bull and is very popular at the Amazon Rainforest where they (I used "they" because I live in the south-west of the country) have a very big annual celebration called Parintins Folkloric Festival helded in Parintins, Amazonas. Despite the importance of the celebration to the Amazon region (only Carnival in Rio de Janeiro draw more participants) is not widely known in other parts of the country. In three days more than 100,000 people dance the Bumba-meu-boi.

HOW "NOT" TO PAINT

I was so happy with the progress of this painting till this vimpire woman shows up. I hate her. She is ugly, deformed, disproportionate... even stinks!
I first painted the background and it was ok, then I painted the blond guy and I felt like Michelangelo and then... I ruined the whole thing with her!
Compare with the first study. It was much better.
Now, I will put it aside and just later try to fix Mrs. Dracula up.
Kids, do not paint like that!

STORM OR "I SLHOULDN'T HAVE WOKE UP!"

It's finally dried.
It always happens to me. I don't even bother anymore!

Oil on canvas 20X30

OSCAR NIEMEYER

The bigest brazilian architect. 100 years and working! Congratulations!

Sketch book - charcoal

SATYRICON

I'm working in this small painting now, a scene of Fellini's Satyricon. Try to reach the beauty of Giuseppe Rotunno's photography will be such a challenge.

ONE PROCESS

I just finished this painting and thought about showing the whole process since the oxidation till the final touches. What you think? I would prefer looser strokes but I like it. It took me four hours and the dimentions are 20X30cm, oil on canvas.

MARIA MANOELA

Watercolor/collage/fabric 20X18cm

PAPER HAT

I had been on vacation, travelling, resting, making friends, having fun and studing but no, I'm not one of those who think the new year starts just after carnival, like many brazilians do. I've been working on some paintings, nothing so elaborate, and will start to post them here. I hope you like them and would love to hear your opinions.

Watercolor 6X9cm

"THAT IS NOTHING MORE TRULY ARTISTIC THAN TO LOVE PEOPLE"

Mixed Technique on paper 36X24cm

I love Van Gogh... who doesn't? For me, more than a great artist (I don't like to use the term "genius" because I don't believe talent is a gift but the result of hard work) he is an example of persistence. He once said: "If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced". What is done in love is done well!

I pay homage to him in the painting above, my version of "Memory of the Garden of Etten", what gave me great pleasure to paint.

WE MUSIC

Mixed Technique 28X37cm

THE "STUDIO"

Well, I know you can not call it a "studio" but that's where I work.

Most people are curious about where artists produce, unfortunately my place is not a match for the idea of a studio full of naked models, parties, interesting people... the avant-garde stereotype! To be honest it's just a corner where I do the oil on canvas work. Hard work! To draw I use my room's desk. I'm doing the arrangements to move to a real studio but until this happen I will continue to have a great time here. Have a seat!

I'm working in this painting now. I drew on cavas using charcoal and now I'm oxidating before I start with colors. I'm travelling next week, so it won't be finished so soon.

ISPIRED BY NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE

Mixed Technique 29X21 cm

This one was inspired by the French painter, sculptor and film maker Niki de Saint Phalle.

For me, is very usual when I study a painter do some works trying to capture its spirit.

BANHISTA / BATHER

Mixed technique on paper 14X17 cm

Cipião

Mixed technique on paper, 28X32

1941

De volta da praia para o cavalete!
Abaixo um quadro que pintei praticando, inspirado por Stephen Magsig. Um pintor que vem há vinte anos retratando Detroit e a "pátina da vida " como ele costuma dizer. Vale a pena visitar seu blog: http://myartspage.blogspot.com/

Back from the beach to the easel!
Practicing I painted inspired by Stephen Magsig as you can see below. He has painted Detroit for more than 20 years and enjoy painting the "patina of life" as he use to say. Visit his blog at http://myartspage.blogspot.com/. It is worth it!





oil on canvas 40X30cm