THE PROJECT
"There was a city written in the sea."
Carlos Drummond de Andrade
The "Copacabana Ilustrada" project began in 2004 when I relocated to this well-known neighborhood, affectionately known as "the little princess of the sea," where I discovered a wealth of material for my paintings.
The "Copacabana Ilustrada" project began in 2004 when I relocated to this well-known neighborhood, affectionately known as "the little princess of the sea," where I discovered a wealth of material for my paintings. It was Carnival season, and the streets were crowded with different types of people, which was interesting for the looking eye of a plastic artist. I began photographing nearly every day and at various times of the day using a 400 mm lens, which enabled me to capture people's spontaneous moments from a distance. With this, I began a journey that would include more than two thousand photographs. From this moment on, I was aware that I possessed a significant and valuable material in my hands and within a few steps from home, but I had no idea how to work with it.
The "Copacabana Ilustrada" project began in 2004 when I relocated to this well-known neighborhood, affectionately known as "the little princess of the sea," where I discovered a wealth of material for my paintings.
The "Copacabana Ilustrada" project began in 2004 when I relocated to this well-known neighborhood, affectionately known as "the little princess of the sea," where I discovered a wealth of material for my paintings. It was Carnival season, and the streets were crowded with different types of people, which was interesting for the looking eye of a plastic artist. I began photographing nearly every day and at various times of the day using a 400 mm lens, which enabled me to capture people's spontaneous moments from a distance. With this, I began a journey that would include more than two thousand photographs. From this moment on, I was aware that I possessed a significant and valuable material in my hands and within a few steps from home, but I had no idea how to work with it.
Norman Rockwell, the great illustrator who depicted American life in the twentieth century, has always been a role model for me. He had a significant impact on this project.
Another source of inspiration for me was the work of artist Jean Baptiste-Debret, who did in the nineteenth century what I’m attempting to do nowadays with my paintings in Copacabana: portraying people, their lives, and their customs objectively and iconographically.
However, it was in the work of the great cartoonist and graphic designer J.Carlos that gave me the inspiration I needed for my project. He was undoubtedly the largest graphic chronicler in Brazil, paying close attention to the lives and customs of the people of Rio in the years between 1910 and 1950.
Due to those things, my artistic project "Copacabana Ilustrada" arose as a tribute to this poetic and world-famous neighborhood comprised of anonymous people who became celebrities for their authenticity and irreverence as they stopped down the curving sidewalk
Special thanks to Fernanda Japiassú, who showed me a new side of Copacabana, and to photographer
Stefano Martini, who believed in the project and photographed the paintings for the very first time.