{"id":2078,"date":"2025-03-19T12:35:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T12:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/observer-arts-interviews-artist-gustavo-nazareno\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T12:35:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T12:35:34","slug":"observer-arts-interviews-artist-gustavo-nazareno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/observer-arts-interviews-artist-gustavo-nazareno\/","title":{"rendered":"Observer Arts Interviews: Artist Gustavo Nazareno"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/a>
Gustavo Nazareno\u2019s richly symbolic paintings investigate the African hand in Brazilian Baroque art. GABRIEL_VOLPI<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2018, Brazilian artist Gustavo Nazareno<\/a> left Minas Gerais for S\u00e3o Paulo because his aunt, a practitioner of the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda, \u201cgot an intuition [that] something was going to happen.\u201d (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\u2019s Terreiro, where the congregation practices Candombl\u00e9, a religion started in 16th-century Brazil by enslaved West Africans from elements of traditional African religions and Portuguese Catholicism. It was during his experiences at the temple that Nazareno became aware of the Candombl\u00e9 and Yoruba religions that would inspire his charcoal drawings and paintings. The Terreiro was also where he received his first commissions.<\/p>\n

\n<\/section>\n

Those early charcoal drawings have since evolved into the work in \u201cB\u00e1ra,\u201d a series that the artist started in 2019 as an offering for Orix\u00e1 Exu, a deity worshipped in some Afro-Latin and African religions that is said to be the conduit between the mortal world and the pantheon of Orix\u00e1s. Some thirty charcoal drawings from the series of over 400 works are now on view in a solo show curated by Alexandre Sarfati<\/a> at Opera Gallery\u2019s Bal Harbour, Florida, space for Nazareno\u2019s debut solo presentation in the United States.<\/p>\n

\"A\"A<\/a>
Gustavo Nazareno, Bar\u00e1, 37<\/em>, 2019-2023. Photo by Anna Carolina Bueno, courtesy of GUSN Studio<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The series is \u201cvery personal, kind of connected with my faith, my references and everything I believe,\u201d Nazareno, a 2024 Jabuti Award prize winner, told Observer. His body of work shines a light on Afro-Brazilian spirituality, culture and identity, and even more of it can be seen in \u201cAfro-Latin Baroque,\u201d showing concurrently at Opera Gallery Miami. There, faith, visual culture and resilience within Afro-Brazilian and Latin American traditions and histories are explored. Curated by Alexandre Sarfati, the show\u2019s title is in part a reference to enslaved Africans building Catholic churches like Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Ros\u00e1rio Dos Pretos (The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black People) in Brazil.<\/p>\n

\n

SEE ALSO:<\/i><\/b> What the Art World Needs to Know About the Next Generation of Museum Patrons<\/i><\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That show features sixteen new paintings Nazareno developed after researching the African hand in the Brazilian Baroque. Because Baroque tells the story of slavery and colonization in the Americas, especially Latin America, he is also studying the African hand in Catholicism, Latin churches and the Latin imagery of Catholicism and religion.<\/p>\n

\"A\"A<\/a>
Gustavo Nazareno in his studio. Photo: BRUNO LEAO, courtesy of GUSN Studio<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the artworks in \u201cAfro-Latin Baroque,\u201d The Dance of Xang\u00f4 (2025)<\/i>, shows a woman wearing what looks like Gele, a traditional head tie synonymous with the Yoruba people of Nigeria. Another, May This Painting Reach Your Heart \u2013 A Tribute to Chico Rei<\/a> (2025)<\/i>, a painting of a black horse draped in red cloth, symbolizes Orix\u00e1 Exu and Chico Rei\u2014a King from the Kingdom of Congo who was captured by Portuguese slave traders who sent him to Brazil. He is believed to have later secured his freedom and that of others in Minas Gerais, where Nazareno was based before moving to S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

The artist pulls from sources including personal narratives, fables, religious tales and spiritual and cultural histories of Africa, Europe, his native Brazil and South America, which are reflected in both his charcoal drawings and oil paintings. As an homage and for his blessings, the artist shared that he always starts a body of work and exhibitions with a work for the deity Exu because he is the \u201cconnector between the divine and the human.\u201d Attire<\/i> for Exu (2024),<\/i> an oil on linen painting showing Exu draped in cloth, was the first painting he created for the show.<\/p>\n

Nazareno is \u201creally glad and grateful\u201d for the opportunities to bring conversations about faith and religion to a global audience through his practice. \u201cI think the main focus of my work is to highlight the beauty of my faith [and] my beliefs. But mostly I think it\u2019s very important to talk about these religions in art but being more universal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gustavo Nazareno\u2019s \u201c<\/b>B\u00e1ra<\/b><\/a>\u201d and \u201c<\/b>Afro-Latin Baroque<\/b><\/a>\u201d are on view at Opera Gallery\u2019s Bal Harbour and Miami locations through March 29, 2025. Additionally, his work is included in \u201cOne Becomes Many,\u201d a group exhibition at the Perez Art Museum Miami featuring ten Black Brazilian artists through April 16, 2026. Next year, the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center in Chicago will present a solo exhibition of his work curated by Danny Dunson<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

\"An\"An<\/a>
An installation view of Gustavo Nazareno\u2019s \u201cAfro-Latin Baroque.\u201d Photo by Gabriel Volpi<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Through<\/p><\/div>\n