Caio Reisewitz

I had the opportunity to view Caio Reisewitz first solo exhibition at the CCBB during my past visit to Rio. I remember being easier intrigued and influence by the natural beauty that his photographers share with the viewer. The photograph above was probably by far on of my favorites of the exhibition. The color is just so intense and rich. He had many other images of inside architectural spaces that played a lot with light and shadow.

The photography that intrigued me, by far the most, was what simply appeared to be a shot of the forest or jungle. It was a luscious green that soaked in the color and made it feel like I was there. With further examination you begin to notice that what first appears to be a place furthest away from civilization, you notice favelas hidden among the foresta. I decided to look into a bit more of his work and found out he is a native of São Paulo and photographs many of his images within its limits. I personally did not witness or experience much of any encounters with nature while in São Paulo. It is a HUGE city, home to over 11 million people. It is nice to know areas like this do exist there and I like the juxaposition of these two different environments of the natural and processed together. When I saw that photograph, I had an "ah ha!" moment and began to think about this idea in other forms. In some ways I think it was the inspiration behind my latest idea for a piece.

Henrique Oliveira

About two years ago I had the privilege to view a great show at the CCBB in Rio called Nova Arte Nova (New Art New). I remember being extremely bummed that I wasn't going to be able to make to São Paulo for their annual Biennial and had made it a point to go there during my time in Brazil. Plans fell through and I ended up not traveling out of Rio but towards the end of my stay I had the opportunity to check out this show which was just as good as the biennial if not better. The exhibition featured a collection of emerging artists from Brazil. There were a few artists that really caught my eye and most were because of their choice of materials or technique.

Then today, I happened to spend the afternoon in the MICA library in one of my favorite activities..I sat for about an hour or so looking through the Sculpture magazines from the past 6 months or so..reading articles and learning about some new artists. One artist that I happened to stumble upon was about the Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira. I was blown away by some of the pieces that were included in the article and even more surprised to learn he was Brazilian and recently showed some work at Fun Arte in Rio! Then when I was home this evening reading up on his work..I realized that I saw one of his pieces at this CCBB show in 2008. The work was done in wood but incorporated other materials that changed the pieces significantly. I am more drawn to these newer pieces that are full installations. I especially love how he found his material to work with and how his background was originally painting and wanted to find away to interpret painting into three dimensional forms. Watch the video below! He talks a little bit about his process.









Other articles

Brasil Series #5

I am currently in the process of looking for a space so I can start working on some ideas for pieces I have been thinking about. For now I am trying to keep up with the marquetry work I was doing in Brazil. I am hoping to start a new piece this week. The piece will be a reference to my experience walking around Sao Paulo. I'll let you know when I have more progress!!

This piece is a reference to the CIEPs found throughout Rio. I wrote about them in an early post. Here is a recap.

Image of the Day- Santa Teresa- RJ

This is the famous bonde that you can take across the Arcos da Lapa on your way to Santa Teresa. I hadn't had the opportunity to actually ride the train up the hill to this cute little area in the city, full of the boheimian side of Rio, until my last few weeks in Brazil. It is one of my favorite parts of the city and somewhere I could see myself living someday in the near future. It was also the first time I met a new friend named Paulina who was studying at USP in Sao Paulo but was from Paris. She allowed for me to visit and stay with her in Sao Paulo a few weeks after I showed her around Rio.

Juxtapoz Brazil Issue July 2009

As I had mentioned in an earlier post..I recently saw that Juxtapoz Magazine was featuring a month with all Brazilian artist and sure enough I bought the magazine to read up on some of the big names in Brazilian street art. Ran into a few artist I have seen on the street in Rio as well as many new ones I hope to look further into. I chose a few to share.

Titi Freak- TFreak

I found this introduction about the artist Titi Freak pretty humorous so I wanted to share it -

Crawling out of the womb holding a pencil, begin working for a well-known Brazilian comic book company at age 13. Experiment with every material available and you too could have a resume like Titi Freak.

BUT- I do really like his work. He was the only artist in this issue that I am positive I have seen his work somewhere in Rio. I believe he has a dragon similar to the style of these fish right by this tunnel between Rocinha and Barra da Tijuca. I was thinking about on my drive into the city on Sautday and sure enough it was still there.



Here are a few quotes from the interview I found inspirational.

Sempre meaning always represents the desire of maintaining myself as I am now, always working and going after my dreams, always with my heart light and open, always with love, always preserving my character in order to continue growing. It is a way of saying that we will always be learning.

Finding new ways is a consequence of what the person is searching for. I believe that experimenting and adapting lead to different solutions and other ways of creating new languages. Seeing different things, spending time in other places, experiencing other cultures, meeting different people, or simply taking a break from what you usually do is something different.

The interview also brought up something I recently discovered about Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil. (home to more than 20 million) I recently started reading a book about Brazil and it had talked about Sao Paulo having the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. I found this rather interesting because most would not suspect this at all. This artist happens to be Japanese and Brazilian. The question was asked: You were born in Liberdade (the Japan quarter of Sao Paulo), married a Japanese woman, and are going to live in Japan for a while. Do you have an interest in preserving your Japanese tradition?

I don’t think my background will ever be completely Japanese. Only part of my ancestors are Japanese, and I was born in Brazil. Even though I live in the Japanese quarter and experienced a little of that with my grandparents, my culture and traditions are Brazilian. My wife comes from a Japanese family but she was born in Brazil. When she was only three months old she went back to Japan. Her culture is completely different from the Japanese culture of Brazil.

I grew up watching Japanese heroes such as Ultra Man, Ultra Sever, and Dragonball. I used to draw all of them. My artwork evolved while I was watching Akira by Katsuriro Otomo, and other artists such as Yoshitomo Nara and Usugrow. All these things got me closer to the Japanese culture, I was able to see and experience it from different angles. In 2007 when I spent some time in Japan, I could see in the flesh what I only knew from magazines. I learned a lot from spending time with my family there and observing the culture. I got very connected to the Japanese graffiti and art scene. This year I am going to spend three months to paint the cities and stay with family and meet my Japanese friends again. I am just worried about keeping united; if we stay united, we preserve the tradition.

Did I mention he was champion yo-yo player?



Bruno 9LI

His work explores cultural miscegenation and spiritual conditions, as well as the rites of passage of African tribes into a contemporary setting with popular culture symbols.

Bopo
Acrylic and India ink on paper
20.5” x 27.5”
2008

I believe that competitiveness is inside anyone who breathes that sort of energy. I mean, if you don’t let all the feelings that come along with competition get to you, you just don’t take part in it. I’m always searching for the mystery that makes me wake up and work for many hours drawing and painting. Those who like the vibration of my work have the sensibility to read the cartography of my mind and share a vision with me. There’s no rivalry in that. Competition seems to be something related only to business, dealers, and galleries.

I just keep my eyes to the future. There’s a structure, an order to follow, but a mystery between lines and codes. For me, to be innovative means to risk the unknown, I believe that is the way to be a productive artist.

Bruno is based out of Porte Alegre, which is in the southern most part of Brazil. From what I have read about the area and heard, it is very nice and heavily influenced by the Europeans. There is a large German population there. I was darn to his work because his color palette and imagery. At times his work is overwhelming because there are so many things going on but on a few of his pieces I notice how he uses pattern to draw the viewer towards a focal point which are typically African and South American masks. I chose a few quotes from the interview I read about his work. I enjoyed hearing his thoughts in regards to the competitive nature of the “art world” which is something I often think about.

www.Bruno9li.com

Sesper- Sesper Blog

Sesper is one of the most important names in Brazilian underground art. He is currently finishing up his debut documentary about skateboard art in Brazil. He is a graphic designer for several skateboard magazines and brands. He creates collages that reveal years of collecting magazines, pictures, mail envelopes, and other materials. In keeping with his wish that his reconfigured memories be conserved forever, the final result of his work is heavy and thick, pervaded with strong meanings, the glued traces of Sesper’s insane mind.

Those of you who know me, know how much I love working with different materials and collage is something that never is boring to me. Any chance to experiment with materials I’ll take and Sesper’s collages are really exciting to me. I am particularly drawn to the piece Kids: Playground @ 2034. The use of the stables is interesting and just add to the mood of the piece. His interview talked a lot about his influence on American culture particularly the 80s of music, art, and skateboarding. I chose on question from his interview to share pertaining to his feelings toward American culture.

Kids: Playground @ 2034 (detail)
Paper, found objects, and acrylic.
2009

How do you feel about American culture?

Some people told me that I wouldn’t want to come back and I have to agree. I had a really cool time in California in such a short period of 22 days, I just went to LA and SF, but I don’t think these two cities represent the real America.

What I really hate in America is that there are too many laws and rules. I think that’s why there are so many serial killers. It must drive people crazy. The violence and racial issues make me freak out a little.

Because we grew up in a total macho Latin society, SF is interesting. There is a lot of respect and tolerance for all kinds of people and credos. If someone beats you up in Brazil and you try to get help from a cop, maybe they’ll definitely treat you like a sissy. I just hung out at punk shows and skate spots for 22 days, listening to all the accents from all over the earth. To be honest, sometimes I had to see an American flag to remind me that I was in the USA.

The trash produced in the cities scared me too. I don’t know why but I think we produce less trash for some reason.

Mommy Amerikkka
Paper, found objects, and acrylic.
260 cm x 260 cm
2008

I hope to add a few more so check back later in the week.

PS- For those of you wondering. I arrived safetly in Brazil and am now in the process of figuring out what is next here. Pretty exciting. I have a few funny stories to share already but I will safe these for a later post!! :o)

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

This is an article I found about a month ago and found it really interesting and a good resource for my work.

I remember while being in Brazil, I had a discussion with Katie about the newspaper industry there. The use and need for communication through the paper is much more significant because many people don't have the internet, it isn't as common as it is in US which makes since, so the newspaper has become there main source of news and information. I started grabbing the local paper that was handed out on my way onto the metro each day. I would sit on the train and attempt to read some of it, often times referring to the pictures for further explanation. Gave me something to look forward to on those daily trips.