Mozart Guerra

Mozart Guerra, born 1962 in Recife, in the North-East of Brazil, studied architecture at the Federal University of Pernambuco where he graduated as an architect in 1986.

At the end of the 1980s, using his knowledge of space and volumes, he took part in the production of a large number of sets for theatre, carnival, television and cinema. At the same time, he devoted himself to his passion for sculpture by drawing inspiration from the techniques and materials used in the decoration workshops. He creates works based on polystyrene, resin, foam, materials to which he will remain faithful thereafter.

In 1992, he settled permanently in Paris and devoted himself fully to sculpture. Inspired at that time by the sculptures of the Colombian Botero and those of Niki de Saint Phalle, he first created works in resin: busty women in shimmering colors, burlesque characters immersed in extravagant productions, strange animals that allowed him to gradually gain artistic and commercial recognition.

At the beginning of the 2000s, he gradually evolved his artistic approach: always with many colors, but less burlesque forms and a completely new technique. He dresses his sculptures with colored ropes, glued together. At the same time, he also renews the themes. Heads and bodies of animals, Indians, primates and geishas, portraits and still life, at first, sculpted in a very realistic way in polystyrene or expanded foam, are covered with a sort of second skin: These patiently wound cords, fastened by means of pins, highlight certain shapes and blend others. He covers his characters and all kinds of animal heads – ram, deer, giraffe, bear... presented as hunting trophies – a colorful topography that magnifies them in the manner of a naturalist in his cabinet of curiosities.