In 2018, Brazilian artist Gustavo Nazareno left Minas Gerais for Sao Paulo because his aunt, Umbanda, a practitioner of African Brazilian religion, “gained intuition.” [that] Something will happen. ” (Umbanda is based on the idea of possession by the spirits. It was created in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in the 20th Century from a blend of African religions with Catholicism and Spiritism.) Upon his arrival, he visited his aunt's Terreiro, where the congregation practices Candomblé, a religion started in 16th-century Brazil by enslaved West Africans from elements of traditional African religions and the Portuguese Catholicism was in his experience in the temple where the Nazarene realized the Kandobul and Yoruba religions, which inspired him to paint and painting.
Since then, those early charcoal paintings evolved into works of “Bára”, a series of artists who began in 2019 as a product of OrixáExu, a deity worshipped in certain African Latino and African religions, said to be the channel between the mortal world and the police stations of Orixás. Currently, there are about 30 charcoal drawings in a solo program curated by Alexandre Sarfati in Bal Harbor, Florida, and are currently making her debut in the U.S. for a solo program curated by Alexandre Sarfati in Bal Harbor, Florida.
The series is “very personal, related to my beliefs, my references and everything I believe in”, Nazareno, the 2024 Jabouti Award winner, told Observers. His works have some knowledge of the spirituality, culture and identity of Africa-Brazil, and can even see more spirituality in the “African Latin Baroque” and can even be displayed simultaneously at the Miami Opera House. There, faith, visual culture and resilience are explored in the traditions and history of Africa, Brazil and Latin America. The title of the show was curated by Alexandre Sarfati, partly referring to the construction of Catholic churches by enslaved Africans, such as the Igreja de Nossa de Nossa de Nossa de Nossa de Nossa do dorosáriodorosáriodos pretos (in Brazil the Church of Our Lady of the Roses of the Black Rose).
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The show features 16 new paintings developed by Nazareno after the Brazilian Baroque study of Africans. Because Baroque tells stories of slavery and colonization in the Americas, especially Latin America, he is also studying Latin images of Catholicism, Latin Church and Catholicism and religion in Africans.
One of the works of art in “African Latin Baroque”, Xangô’s Dance (2025)shows a woman wearing a look like Gele, a traditional head tie from the Yoruba of Nigeria. other, May this painting touch your heart – Salute to Chico Rei (2025)This is a painting of a black horse in red cloth, symbolizing OrixáExu and Chico Rei, the king of the Congo kingdom, captured by Portuguese slave traders who sent him to Brazil. He was believed to have later gained the freedom of Minas Gerais and the freedom of others, where Nazareno was free before moving to Sao Paulo.
The artist draws inspiration from sources such as the spiritual and cultural history of Africa, Europe, his homeland Brazil and South America, which are reflected in his charcoal paintings and oil paintings. As a homage and blessing, the artist shared that he always began to work and exhibit for the works of the gods because he was “the connector between God and man.” clothing For EXU (2024), The oil on the linen painting was covered with Exu on the cloth, which was the first painting he created for the performance.
Nazareno is “very happy and grateful” for the opportunity to bring conversations about faith and religion to global audiences through his practice. “I think the main focus of my work is to highlight the beauty of my faith [and] My belief. But I think it is very important to talk about these religions in art, but it is more common to it. ”
Gustavo Nazareno's “Bala” and”African Latin Baroque“Bal Harbor and Miami locations in the Opera Gallery are both viewed from March 29, 2025 to March 29, 2025. In addition, his work includes a group exhibition at the Perez Museum of Art in Miami, with ten black Brazilian artists until April 16, 2026. Next year, Chicago in Chicago next year, alumni will be held by Chicago, whose job will be his job.
