Exhibition "And the soul is for the birds" by Chico da Silva

Nottingham Contemporary is thrilled to present the first European institutional solo exhibition And the soul is for the birds, of the late self-taught Brazilian artist Francisco da Silva (1922/3*–1985, Brazil), known as 'Chico da Silva,' or simply 'Chico'. 

Chico's paintings were a glimpse into an immense non-hierarchical cosmology that was fueled by the artist's own imagination, mythology and folklore. Depicting sea creatures swimming on the currents of outer space, and fantastical creatures vividly painted in hallucinatory battles or stretching their jaws agape to consume smaller creatures, Chico's works call attention to the interconnectedness of everything. 

During his life, Chico's practice was subject to significant local and international fascination, although in international contexts it was often exoticized as 'primitive art'. Questions of authority and authenticity following Chico's establishment of a collective studio practice, the Pirambu School, also divided opinions. The exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary will present a selection of seminal paintings created throughout the artist's lifetime and will celebrate Chico's contribution and legacy to contemporary Indigenous art practice in Brazil. 

Chico was born surrounded by the Amazon rainforest in Alto Tejo, and while he moved across the region, he spent his life living in Brazil. Beginning his artistic journey through painting the whitewashed walls of the fishermen's houses in Praia Formosa, he gave shape and color to his drawings with pieces of charcoal, bricks, leaves, and other elements found around him. 

In his gouaches and paintings, Chico represented mainly forest creatures, such as birds and fish of the Amazon, as well as fantastical figures, such as dragons. His artworks give form to stories and mythologies from the oral tradition embedded in the culture of Northern Brazil. His compositions are marked by rich polychromy and the graphic details of his drawings, composed of colorful weaves and lines. 

Given the originality of his style and compositions, he stood out in the context of the so-called Brazilian popular art movement and, in addition to achieving great commercial success during his lifetime, he attracted considerable interest from critics. Among the major exhibitions he has participated in are: Francisco da Silva, Galerie Pour L'Art, Lausanne, Switzerland (1950); Exhibition of Primitive and Modern Art, Musée d'Ethnographie, Neuchâtel, Switzerland (1956); 8 Brazilian Naïve Painters, Galerie Jacques Massol, Paris, France (1965); 9th São Paulo Art Biennial, Brazil (1967); and Tradition and Rupture: Synthesis of Brazilian Art and Culture, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (1984). In addition, in 1966 he received the Honorable Mention award for his participation in the 33rd Venice Biennale. 

* The artist's date of birth is not precisely known and is widely circulated as 1910. Given the precarious nature of record-keeping in early twentieth-century Brazil, together with the adverse conditions of his life, it is unfortunately not possible to determine the exact date with certainty. In recent years, however, based on cross-referenced data and interviews given by the artist, it has been established that the widely circulated 1910 date does not align with the findings of researchers.

Service
Exhibition | And the soul is for the birds
From June 06th to September 13th
Tuesday to Friday, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM; Saturday, from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM; Sunday, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM