Nara Roesler is pleased to present an exhibition of two outstanding artists focusing on the diversity of the Afro-Brazilian cultural legacy: Alberto Pitta (b. 1961, Salvador, Brazil) and Elian Almeida (b. 1994, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Curated by Luis Pérez-Oramas, the show will propose two major counterpointing visual arguments bridging, on one hand, symbolic-religious Afro-Brazilian ornamental patterns on painted fabrics, signature of Alberto Pitta’s production, and, on the other hand, historical-narrative painted scenes by Elian Almeida based on Afro-Brazilian identities and anecdotes.
Over the course of more than four decades, Alberto Pitta has developed a distinctive visual trajectory, characterized by a dialogue between Afro-Brazilian cultures, spirituality, and graphic experimentation. His artistic practice is directly tied to his personal history, first as the son of Ialorixá Mãe Santinha de Oyá, an important religious leader who introduced him to fabrics–initially through intricate richelieu embroidery and later through the screen printing and textile patterns he began developing in the 1980s for the Carnival in Salvador, one of the biggest popular festivals in existence today and a vehicle for bold visual experimentation ino which Alberto Pitta is a major, referential figure. A major presence in the recently inaugurated 36th São Paulo International Biennial, Alberto Pitta’s production has never been the object of a full, embracing presentation in the U.S.
Alongside the works of Pitta, the show will feature a selection of paintings by Elian Almeida, an artist belonging to a new generation of creators whose works reassert protagonism to agents and bodies that have been traditionally marginalized in Brazilian society and in the Western history of art. Elian Almeida addresses decolonialism, exploring the experience and performativity of the black body in contemporary Brazil, through a process of recuperating elements from the past – images, narratives, characters – as a means of contributing to the process of empowerment and dissemination of Afro-Brazilian historiography.
In the paintings chosen to be installed vis-à-vis Alberto Pitta’s work, Almeida offers a fresh perspective on how these stories can be told, exploring memory and ancestry not merely as the past, but as present and living subjective dimensions. This conceptual approach seeks to uncover alternative meanings within the painting.
During a recent trip to Salvador, Bahia, Almeida visited Alberto Pitta’s studio, where he was inspired to experiment with screen printing—a medium he had encountered in college but revisited under the guidance of the master of screen printing and textiles. The use of serigraphy and stencils allowed him to achieve volumes and textures that a brush alone could not produce.