Ayrson Heráclito

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ayrson Heráclito Novato Ferreira (born June 21, 1968 in Macaúbas ) is a Brazilian artist, scientist, professor and curator .

As an artist, he is particularly interested in the time of slavery in Brazil, which he tries to deal with primarily with performances . He is considered to be one of the most important contemporary artists in Brazil.

Life

He became interested in literature at an early age and read Sartre and Nietzsche as a young man . He has been an artist since 1984. He began studying art in 1986 at the Escola des Artes Plasticas (College of Plastic and Fine Arts) and attended art lectures at the Catholic University of Salvador de Bahia .

In 1989 he finished his studies and graduated as a visual artist. In 1990 he was also appointed an art teacher by the State of Bahia. He lived outside of Bahia until 1995, but returned in 1995. He became interested in anthropology and the history of Bahia. He researched the poet Gregório de Matos and his work from an anthropological point of view. One of his role models as an artist is Joseph Beuys , and as an ethnologist, the French Pierre Verger .

His brother is also active as an artist and poet. Heraclito is a professor of visual arts at the Universidade de Reconacavo de Bahia in Cachoeira . In 2016 he received his PhD in Communication Studies and Semiotics from the Catholic University of São Paulo . He has been a fan of the candomble since 1997 . He is a follower of the Fon-Candomble, a sub-form of the classic Candomble.

Lives and works mainly in Salvador de Bahia.

plant

With his artistic work Heraclito tries to create awareness about slavery in Brazil as the main theme and to heal with art. Another focus is the Afro-Brazilian culture with its connections to Africa and America. In it he criticizes slavery and racism and lays the foundation for his art with his own research. The human body also plays an important role in his work.

He works with installations and works as a performance, video and photo artist who also worked with happenings . Preferred natural materials include sugar, meat, semen, blood, and fish.

His best-known artistic work, which he presented as performance and video art at the same time, was done in 2015 in São Paulo at the invitation of the world-famous artist Marina Abramovic ; " A Transmutação da carne " (The transformation of the flesh), which symbolically represents the possession of the slaves by the large landowners using the wrought iron that burned the initials into the skin of the slaves. This act is fictitiously portrayed on meat and shows the double transformation from raw meat to burned and from free man to slave. During this performance, various actors cried because they realistically empathized with the situation. He had his first solo exhibition in 1989.

In 2015 artistic stays in Senegal and Mali as well as a first visit to the Museum of World Cultures in Frankfurt am Main . In 2017 he took part in the International Art Biennale in São Paulo. His works hang in museums, including in Frankfurt am Main, Rio de Janeiro , São Paulo and Salvador de Bahia. He has received high art awards in Brazil. In Germany he was best known for the exhibition " Entre Terra e Mar. Between Earth and Sea ", which ran until August 2018, as a double exhibition with the Portuguese artist Rigo 23 in the Museum of World Cultures in Frankfurt am Main.

Heraclio sees himself as an artist and priest and his art is philosophically, politically and spiritually inspired.

Solo exhibitions (selection)

Group exhibitions (selection)

swell

personal data
SURNAME Heráclito, Ayrson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heráclito Novato Ferreira, Ayrson (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Brazilian artist, scientist, professor and curator
DATE OF BIRTH June 21, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Macaúbas , Brazil