Antônio Henrique Amaral
Antonio Henrique Amaral | |
---|---|
Born | 24 August 1935 |
Died | 24 April 2015 (aged 79) São Paulo, Brazil |
Nationality | Brazilian |
Known for | Painting |
Movement | Current artist |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/%22Um_%2B_um_%3D_a_dois%3F%22_Ant%C3%B4nio_Henrique_do_Amaral.jpg/220px-%22Um_%2B_um_%3D_a_dois%3F%22_Ant%C3%B4nio_Henrique_do_Amaral.jpg)
Antonio Henrique Amaral (24 August 1935 in São Paulo, Brazil – 24 April 2015 in São Paulo) was a Brazilian painter and printmaker.[1] He is best known for his images' artistic and political critiques in the form of a series of paintings of bananas that have been mutilated by forks and ropes.[2]
Background
Amaral was born in 1935 in
Influences
As the banana was Amaral's favorite subject and symbolic representation, it is important to note that he was not the first Brazilian painter to use it. Albert Eckhout (1610–1665), the Dutch Brazilian painter from the 17th century, also associated the banana with the region that would later become Brazil. Antonio Henrique Amaral's own great-aunt, Tarsila do Amaral (1886–1973), also used the banana tree and leaf as symbolic of Brazil in the background of many of her paintings. Lasar Segall (1891–1957) also used banana trees as identification for Brazilian people in his painting, Bananal (1927). These artists all contributed to the emergence of the banana as a symbol of Brazil that Amaral would later adopt.[6]
Tropicalismo
The
The Banana Paintings
In 1964, General Humberto De Alencar Castelo Branco led a coup that replaced the existing government with a military junta. There was a severe recession, which led to popular dissatisfaction with the government. The government responded to peaceful protests with Institutional Act No. 5, which closed Congress, dissolved the veneer of democracy that existed at the time, allowed the regime to arrest, imprison without habeas corpus, and to censor, outlaw criticism, and repress the populace harshly. This is when the dictatorship tortured and often murdered anyone even suspected of opposing it. Without recourse to dialogue or democracy, a small portion of the opposition took to guerrilla resistance such as high-profile kidnappings in order to demand their comrades be freed from the dictatorship's torture chambers, and bank robberies.[8] Among other things, Amaral's banana paintings reflected the human rights abuses of the regime and its support by the United States.[9]
From 1968 to 1975, Antonio Henrique Amaral painted two series of paintings focused solely on bananas. The first, painted mainly from 1968 to 1972, was titled Brasilia, while the second, from 1973 to 1974, was titled Campos de batallha, or Battlefields. Brasiliana was more of a banana festival or, as the Brazilians would say, “bananas to sell and to give away.” These bananas were generally less corrupted than Amaral's later bananas but by the end of the series, these too have begun to rot and become entangled in ropes, mimicking the parrot's perch, the most common torture practice by the regime. The Campos de batalha series began around 1973, after Amaral moved back to New York City to avoid the intense censorship and possible retaliation by the Brazilian government. In this series, Amaral introduces sharp, metallic objects like forks and knives that penetrate and cut the bananas. Here he recreates what was happening to the bodies of those who dared resist the totalitarian regime.[10][7]
The symbol of the banana was complex and diverse. In the 1920s, in
Style
Amaral's style is full of close-ups and strange angles. He paints with photorealism and extreme detail. His use of yellows and greens refer to the Brazilian flag and therefore to Brazilians themselves. He often uses dramatic coloring, dark values, and much shadow. The verticals and diagonals he uses, especially in Alone in Green (1973) and Battlefield #31 (1974), bring stress and energy to his paintings, trying to evoke the feeling that what is going on in Brazil is wrong.[13]
Works
- Brasiliana, 1969
- Detalhe de Corda, 1972
- Campo de Batalha 3, 1973
- Campo de Batalha 9, 1973
- Campo de Batalha 22, 1974
- Campo de Batalha 25, 1974
- Campo de Batalha 30, 1974
- Detalhe de folha, 1978
- Expansão, 1977
- Bambu, água e terra, 1978
- Mar e Terra, 1984
- Jogos de Cena, 1993
- Instrumentos de amor e morte, 1995
- Torsos em branco, 1995
- Torsos, 1995
- Torsos V, 1995
- Anima & mania — a carta, 1996
- Anima & mania — a guihotina, 1996
Exhibitions
- 1958 — São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo, Brazil
- 1958 — Instituto de Arte Moderna do Chile, Santiago, Chile
- 1958 — Universidade de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
- 1959 — Pan American Union, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
- 1960 — Galeria Antigonovo, São Paulo, Brazil
- 1960 — Petite Galerie, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 1963 — Galería Saber Vivir, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 1963 — Galeria Mobilínea, São Paulo, Brazil
- 1967 — Galeria Astreia, SP, Brazil
- 1967 — Galeria Mirante das Artes, SP, Brazil
- 1968 — A.A.M.A.M. de São Paulo, Brazil
- 1969 — Galeria Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 1970 — Galería Círculo 3, La Paz, Bolivia
- 1970 — Centro Pedagógico y Cultural de Portales, Cochobamba, Bolivia
- 1971 — Galeria Bonino, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 1971 — Pan American Union, Washington, DC, USA
- 1971 — Galería Merkup, México, DF, México
- 1971 — Elvaston Gallery, London, England
- 1972 — Galerie de Theatre, Geneve, Switzerland
- 1972 — Galeria Socar Seraphico, Brasília, Brazil
- 1972 — Galeria Bonfiglioli, SP, Brazil
- 1973 — Galeria San Diego, Bogotá, Colombia
- 1974 — Lee Ault & Co. Gallery, New York, New York
- 1975 — Galeria Bonfiglioli, SP, Brazil
- 1975 — Galeria Bonino, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 1975 — Birmingham Art Museum, Birmingham, Alabama
- 1975 — Nashville Fine Arts Center, Nashville, Tennessee
References
- ^ "Artista plástico Antonio Henrique Amaral morre em SP". g1.globo.com (in Portuguese). 24 April 2015.
- ^ Lucie-Smith, Edward.Latin American Art of the 20th Century. London: Thames and Hudson, 1993.
- ISBN 978-0-521-62626-2.
- ^ a b c Antonio Henrique Amaral, Edward J Sullivan, Frederico Morais, Maria Alice Milliet. Antonio Henrique Amaral: obra em processo. São Paulo, Brasil: DBA, 1997.
- ^ Amaral, Antonio Henrique. "Antonio Henrique Amaral". Archived from the original on 12 January 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
- ^ a b c d Pontual, Roberto. Jane Turner (ed.). Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Art. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 13.
- ^ a b c d Morais, Fredrico (1989). Antônio H. Amaral. Coral Gables: Elite Art. pp. 1–20.
- ^ Green, James N. (2010). We Cannot Remain Silent: Opposition to the Brazilian Military Dictatorship in the United States. Duke UP.
- ^ Ryan, Bartholomew. "Homage to the 21st hCentury". Sightlines. Walker Art Center. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ Sullivan, Edward J. "A View From Abroad". Antonio Henrique Amaral. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ Day, Halliday T.; Hollister Sturges (1987). Art of the Fantastic: Latin America 1920-1987. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art. p. 158.
- ^ Pontual, Fredrico (1987). Art of the Fantastic: Latin America, 1920-1987. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art. p. 237.
- ^ Shimizu, Meredith (2012), Antonio Henrique Amaral (lecture), Spokane, WA: Whitworth University
External links
- [1] Antonio Henrique Amaral homepage