PT
Untitled (1993) belongs to the series Arturos, in which Neves portrays a family group that traces its ancestry to Artur, their earliest known forebear, in the municipality of Contagem, Minas Gerais. In the artist’s words, “respect for the wisdom and experience of elders is a strong tradition among residents of quilombola communities such as Arturos.”
The quilombo is named after its founder, Arthur Camilo Silvério, the son of formerly enslaved people. Coincidentally, this was one of the first series Neves created after encountering the work of another Arthur: the artist Arthur Bispo do Rosário. The possibility of interweaving disparate symbols and narratives within a single image emerges here with remarkable force and originality, as Neves celebrates the ancestral traditions preserved by the residents of the quilombo. Since then, these strategies have continued to acquire new layers of complexity throughout the artist’s practice.
The series is currently on view in the 61st Venice Biennale – In Minor Keys.
Eustáquio Neves (1955) is a Brazilian visual artist, who is self-taught and has a degree in chemistry. He currently lives in Diamantina, Minas Gerais.
In 1989, Neves began researching and developing alternative, multidisciplinary photographic techniques, manipulating negatives and prints. He also expanded his practice into electronic media, incorporating sequence and movement. Central to his work are questions of identity and the memory of Afro-Brazilian culture, producing socially engaged and critically charged works that invite multiple levels of interpretation.
Much of Neves’ research is drawn from public and personal archives, including some created by the artist himself. In addressing his subjects, he not only confronts issues of structural racism embedded within Brazilian society, but also seeks to recover and preserve the ancestral memories of communities such as the Arturos, as well as his own family heritage, both lived and transmitted through oral tradition.