Gilvan Bezerril

Paulo Gilvan Duarte Bezerril, self-taught in painting and music, began his artistic career in 1964. His unique approach involved using a technique he invented himself, using automotive paint and acrylic on eucatex sheet or, occasionally, sheet wood. Gilvan's art is characteristically naive, overflowing with joy, vibrant colors and tropical atmospheres. He avoids stereotyped formulas, portraying everything from popular rural festivals to comic books that narrate the lives of Lampião and Maria Bonita, the legendery Brazilian Robin Hood.

Gilvan

(Gilvan Duarte Bezerril)

1930 – Recife, PE

2012 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ

Gilvan's first solo exhibition took place in 1972, when he was already living in Rio de Janeiro. Amongst other exhibitions, his work was shown at the Brazilian American Center in Washington (1973), at Galeria Paulo Prado (1975) and Galeria Jacques Ardies (1981) in São Paulo; at Galeria Ipanema (1986) and Galeria Jean-Jacques (1981) in Rio de Janeiro; in Natal, Campinas, and as of 1990, at the Museu Internacional de Arte Naïf in Rio de Janeiro (1990).

Founder of the celebrated musical ensemble Trio Irakitan, it seems as if Gilvan was always on the road. But as he returned home, he would be seized by an obsessive compulsion and take up his paintbrushes to tell the story of the fierce Lampião and the trustworthy Padre Cícero, legendary figures of the Brazilian Northeast. He also enjoyed representing the traditional festivities of the north-eastern people, which he sometimes enhanced with vague references to the Old and New Testament. Gilvan always cultivated his immense pleasure of painting, trusting his instincts and producing charming and humorous works. Even where pictorial technique is concerned, he is set apart by the use of wood-based panels, wooden boxes or even wooden planks which he assembles into folding screens, enriching textures with water-based paints and enamels, besides the usual acrylic paint.

Without any outspoken political position, the artist references serious social issues, never losing the humorous attitude which characterizes his work.