The inspiration for my recent work lies in Brazilian popular culture: its rituals and colours, and processes of patient making that are often based on repetition. This is a culture where materials become infused with beliefs and desires, ritually suffused with the promise of future realisation. Aware of this permeability between the everyday and the spiritual, between concrete matter and intangible memories and wishes, I employ objects as materials that reflect the way desires are ritualized through matter: medical information leaflets and containers, Bonfim wish ribbons and textile fragments become the ground that supports the work, both materially and symbolically. Ingesting medicine and tying knots on Bonfim ribbons are a way of making wishes, and of anxiously awaiting for blessings; fragments of textiles speak of the desire to remember and to be close. In common, these material elements point to the desire of a body that wishes for health, intimacy, love and prosperity; a fragile body that fears mortality.

Influenced by practices of weaving, knotting, tying, cutting, mending, darning, sewing, embroidering and covering, I interweave gestures, rhythms and improvisations based on the repetition of lines and colours. In the Doloridos series, I cover medical leaflets with white gouache, hushing them, and trace horizontal or vertical lines in blue, red, green or yellow. This series is predominantly white, and silent. Ladainhas, on the other hand, is a colourful and vibrant series, in which I use cut paper, Bonfim wish ribbons, textile fragments and colour pencils. It reflects the simple popular geometry of rag rugs and patchwork quilts, but contains voids, around which the lines form grids that resonate as voices in ecstasy or supplication.

These are abstractions where visual perception and bodily pulsation merge. They draw the gaze and invite the viewer to come closer, attracted by what is apparently a rigorous minimalist grid or a rich profusion of colours. As a reward to the attentive and unhurried gaze, the work unveils a surprise – its own materiality and traces of texts from the ribbons and leaflets, now illegible, offer other readings. The work is the white hush that silences words, the interval between voices. It is the colourful voices that cannot be silenced, and intone other words, words that convey belief and desire. The work relates to rituals of cure, purification and protection, and is intended as a materialization of songs of joy and pain.

These works are lamentations and litanies presented as white or colourful geometry.

Traducido del inglés

La inspiración en mi obra más reciente yace en la cultura popular de Brasil: sus rituales, colores y pacientes procesos de elaboración que a menudo se basan en la repetición. Esta es una cultura donde los materiales se funden con las creencias y los anhelos, ritualmente cubiertos con la promesa de realización futura. Al tanto de esta permeabilidad entre lo cotidiano y lo espiritual, entre la materia concreta y las memorias y deseos intangibles, uso objetos como materiales que reflejan la forma en la que los deseos son ritualizados por medio de la materia: folletos y contenedores de información médica, listones de deseos de Bonfim y fragmentos de textiles, se vuelven la base que soporta la obra, de manera material y simbólica. Ingerir medicina y hacer nudos en listones de Bonfim son ambas maneras de tener un deseo y de esperar ansiosamente por bendiciones. Piezas de textiles hablan del deseo de recordar y permanecer cercano. En común, estos elementos materiales apuntan al deseo de un cuerpo que anhela salud, intimidad, amor y prosperidad; un cuerpo frágil que teme a la mortalidad.

Influido por prácticas de tejido, anudado, amarrado, cortado, reparado, zurcido, costura, bordado y recubrimiento, entrelazo gestos, ritmos e improvisaciones basadas en la repetición de líneas y colores. En la serie Doloridos, cubro folletos médicos con gouache, silenciándolos y trazando líneas horizontales o verticales en azul, rojo, verde o amarillo. Esta serie es predominantemente blanca y silenciosa. Ladainhas, por otro lado, es una serie colorida y vibrante, en la que uso papel cortado, listones de deseos de Bonfim, fragmentos de textil y lápices de colores. La serie refleja la simple geometría popular de tapetes de trapo y colchas de retazos, pero contiene vacíos alrededor de los cuales las líneas forman retículas que resuenan como voces en éxtasis o suplicio.

Estas son abstracciones donde la percepción visual y la pulsación corporal se unen. Atraen la mirada e invitan al espectador a acercarse, intrigado por lo que aparenta ser una rigurosa cuadrícula minimalista o una rica abundancia de colores. Como recompensa a la mirada atenta y parsimoniosa, la obra revela una sorpresa: su propia materialidad y huellas de textos de los listones y folletos, ahora legibles, producen otras lecturas. La obra es el blanco silencio que calla las palabras, el intervalo entre voces. Son las voces coloridas que no pueden ser silenciadas y entonan otras palabras; palabras que transmiten creencia y deseo. La obra se relaciona con rituales de sanación, purificación y protección y es concebida como una materialización de canciones de alegría y dolor.

Estas obras son lamentos y letanías presentadas como geometría blanca o de colores.

Selected Biographical Information

Education / Training

• 1996-2001: Bachelor Degree, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Prizes / Fellowships

• 2002: StartsStipendia – Fonds BKVB-Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 2004: BasisStipendia – Fonds BKVB-Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 2006: WerkSubsidie – Fonds BKVB-Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Solo Exhibitions

• 2012: “Pharmacia Deluxe”, Galeria Amparo 60, Recife, Brazil.
• 2010: “Doloridos-Coloridos”, Galeria PILAR, São Paulo, Brazil.
• 2010: “Abstractions to Die For”, Galeria da FAV, Goiânia, Brazil.
• 2009: “Unveil”, TETO Projects, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 2008: “Caio, Felix, Perforations and Cuts”, Galeria VERMELHO, São Paulo, Brazil.
• 2007: Galerie Hein Elferink, Staphorst, The Netherlands.
• 2006: “B.L.U.E”, BalinHouseProjects, London, United Kingdom.
• 2005: Galerie van der Mieden, Antwerpen, Belgium.
• 2003: “White Shirts”, HUISRECHTS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 2000: “Objeto desejado (e para sempre) ausente – Drawings”, Museu de Arte Contemporânea-MAC Goiânia, Brazil.

Group Exhibitions

• 2012: “Beyond the Body”, WELKUNSTZIMMER Dusseldorf, Germany.
• 2011: “EMBRACED”, GustavsBergs Konsthall, Sweden.
• 2009: “Paper Under the Knife”, Museum of Arts and Design-MAD New York, USA.
• 2008: “SOFT-Autonomous Textiles”, Lands Museum, Linz, Austria.
• 2007: “Hard Candies”, MOTIVE Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 2007: “2MOVE: Double Movement”, Sala Verónicas/Centro Párraga, Murcia, Spain.
• 2006: “G.E.B.O.R.D.U.U.R.D.”, Textil Museum Tilburg, The Netherlands.
• 2005: “Bock mit Inhalt“, Stedelijk Museum CS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 2004: “LOSS”,Célio Braga, Iris Einchenber, Suska Macket- Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam-SMBA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 2003: “B.L.U.R.”, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 2002: “Hair Stories”, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, USA.
• 2002: “DISPLAY”, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Publications

• Drawing Now (Galerie Hein Elferink, 2011).
• Manifesta Journal – Journal of Contemporary Curatorship- Nr 7 2009/2010 (Mieke Bal).
• Cutting Edges-Contemporary Collage (Gestalten – Berlin) 2011.
• Jenseits Beyond the Body (Weltkunst Zimmer, Dusseldorf – 2009).
• Slash-Paper Under the Knife (Museum of Arts and Design-MAD NY, 2009).
• Exit32 – Estéticas Migratorias – Mieke Bal (Madrid, 2008).
• Célio Braga ‘Deliriously’, Ernst van Alphen, Sharing a common Skin (Staphorst, 2006).
• G.E.B.O.R.D.U.U.R.D (2006 ISBN 90 70680 750) Louise Schouwenberg ‘LOSS’ Braga/Eichenberg/Mackert, ISBN 90-809189-1-1, 2004.
• Stedelijk Museum Bulletim (Nr.06 2004) Loss (Marjan Boot).
• DISPLAY – A proposal for Municipal Art Acquisitions 2000/2001 – Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
• Felt/Filz- Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2000 (peter Schmitt).

Collections

• Textile Museum Tilburg, The Netherlands MAC Goiás.
• Goiânia, Brazil.
• CODA Musem Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.
• Colecão da FAV-UFG-Go, Goiânia, Brazil.
• Marzee Collection, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
• Fundação Jaime Camâra, Goiânia, Brazil.
• Rotasa Trust Collection, USA.
• Armando Andrade Collection, Peru.
• Chantal van Erven Dorens Collection, Amsterdam/London.
• Collectie Pieter en Marieke Sanders, Aerdenhout, The Netherlands.
• Collectie Sepp Bader, The Netherlands.
• Stedelijk Musem Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Links

• ‘Slash: Paper Under the Knife’ overview with Chief Curator David McFadden
• ‘Full Blown’, 2004
• SMBA Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum      

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Purple’ (Doloridos), 2011, Fragments of textiles, photography and gouache on medicine leaflets, 125 cm x 125 cm. Image courtesy of Galeria Pilar, São Paulo, Brazil

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Yellow’ (Doloridos), 2011, Fragments of textiles, photography and gouache on medicine leaflets, 125 cm x 125 cm. Image courtesy of Galeria Pilar, São Paulo, Brazil

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Vermelho’ (Doloridos), 2010/2011, Fragments of textiles, photography and gouache on medicine leaflets, 125 cm x 125 cm. Private Collection

  
  

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Blue’ (Coloridos), 2010, Wishing ribbons, fragments of textiles and oil on canvas, 100 cm x 100 cm. Image courtesy of Galeria Amparo 60, Recife, Brazil.

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Grey’ (Coloridos), 2011, Wishing ribbons, fragments of textiles, fragments of photography and oil on canvas, 100 cm x 100 cm. Image courtesy of Galeria Pilar, São Paulo, Brazil

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Black’ (Coloridos), 2011, Wishing ribbons, fragments of textiles, fragments of photography and oil on canvas, 100 cm x 100 cm. Image courtesy of Elisio Yamada Collection.

  
  

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Untitled’ (Litanies), 2010, Cuts and color pencil on paper, 70 cm x 65 cm. Image courtesy of Galeria Amparo 60, Recife Brazil.

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Blue’ (Litanies), Blue paper, fragments of textiles, fragments of photography and wishing ribbons on medicine leaflets, 50 cm x 65 cm (irregular). Image courtesy of Galeria Pilar, São Paulo, Brazi

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Green’ (Litanies), 2012, Color pencil and oil color on cut paper, 120 cm x 120 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

  
  

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Untitled’ (Litanies), 2011, Wishing ribbons, color pencil and oil color on cut paper, 125 cm x 125 cm. Image courtesy of Galeria Amparo 60, Recife, Brasil

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Untitled’ (Litanies), 2011, Fragments of textiles and color pencil on paper, 120 cm x 120 cm. Image courtesy of Galeria Amparo 60, Recife, Brasil

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Untitled’ (Litanies), 2012/2013, Color pencil on paper, 150 cm x 125 cm. Image courtesy of the artist

  
  

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Untitled’ (Litanies), 2012, Color pencil and oil color on paper, 150 cm x 125 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

  

  Célio Braga,’Untitled’ (Litanies), 2012, Color pencil on paper, 150 cm x 125 cm. Image courtesy of the artist

  

  Célio Braga, ‘Untitled’ (Litanies), 2013, Wishing ribbons, fragments of textiles, fragments of photography and color pencil on cut paper, 150 cm x 125 cm. Image courtesy of Galeria Pilar, São Paulo, Brazil.