“Nesta terra, em se plantando, tudo dá!”, ou Finok e a excessiva diversidade brasileira, is the title of the solo exhibition by artist Raphael Sagarra (Finok), curated by Agnaldo Farias, that opens on May 23 at the Usina Luis Maluf. And it is this Brazilian diversity that has always motivated the artist, inspiring him to create new works for this exhibition. These works feature a wide variety of materials: acrylic paint, oil pastels and oil sticks bring Finok’s lines to life on once-white canvases.
Raphael Sagarra invites viewers to explore the everyday life, folk customs, musicality, sensuality and tropical exuberance that characterizes Brazil. Through meticulously crafted paintings, sculptures and installations, Finok captures the essence of marginal cultures and subcultures, celebrating the ordinary and the extraordinary that coexist within Brazilian society. Each work is a visual narrative that reveals moments, events and multiple stories, providing a new perspective on often overlooked aspects of our reality.
The "Plurais" series, presented in this exhibition, is composed of polyptychs that act as fragmented records of time, addressing themes ranging from unknown Carnival festivities to the role of religiosity in Brazilian traditions. The works incorporate photographs, videos and notes collected during the artist's research, transforming them into complex and engaging visual reflections. Among the sculptures presented, highlights include pieces such as "Mulher coco", which explores the symbolic richness of the coconut in Brazilian culture, and "Mulher megafone", which amplifies the voices of those who are often marginalized by society. Each work is an invitation to reflect on the interaction between man and his environment, between the ordinary and the extraordinary.
Thus, “In this land, if you plant, everything grows!”, or Finok and the excessive Brazilian diversity, celebrates Brazilian cultural diversity and seeks not only to value the identity and way of life of the Brazilian people, but also to challenge conventional perceptions about what is considered important and worthy of attention. Regarding the title, Agnaldo Farias, curator of the exhibition, highlights: “In this land, if you plant, everything grows!” proof that Brazil is much more than one thinks, than one can imagine. Brazil, for better or for worse, is excessive, confirming the prediction of the haunted Pero Vaz de Caminha in his letter, the first example of Brazilian literature, founding the nation for the Portuguese empire, to the immense pain of those who already lived here and some of those who would come here.”
Finok is a product of the streets and conversations with friends, of travels around the world and of many experiments. The fascination with the most diverse themes that range from houses to shacks, from the center to the outskirts, from the lagoon to the sea and, in addition, the diversity of people, transforms into fuel for his works in which tones and textures, in special nuances, give rhythm and characterize his works, as the curator explains. “The colors, although luminous, are subdued, the yellows, pinks, and brown of the skins are faded, and the colored threads that occasionally fall over his faces, like the points of light, the anemones and organic, vegetable and animal motifs that populate his skin, starting from the neck, do not brighten the closed mouths, the sleepy gaze and the suspended pupils, revealing the whites of his eyes, the static, impassive, mysterious posture”, concludes Agnaldo Farias.