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Virgílio Neto

VIRGÍLIO NETO

(1986– ) Born in Brasília, DF. Lives and works in São Paulo.

Virgílio is a visual artist whose primary form of work is extensive drawing, aiming to relate it to various other languages such as writing, painting, architecture, and popular urban culture. He utilizes different materials — such as graphite, watercolor, and pastel — exploring their potentialities and nuances. The artist works simultaneously with multiple elements in a single drawing, bringing together issues that wouldn't typically be in proximity, thus establishing new possibilities and narratives. Virgílio invites us to look at his artwork as a whole but also draws our attention to all its details.

For Rosewood São Paulo, Virgílio Neto created a comprehensive artwork in the Belavista Rooftop Pool & Bar, covering the foyer walls with the imaginary history of the Count Taraz's aunt. The artist invites us on a creative journey around tales and stories conveyed through his drawings filled with playful narratives. He also designed wallpapers for some of the hotel rooms. The interior parts of the hotel's umbrellas also feature his drawings.

Virgílio Neto describes his work:

"I like to think of my project, the fresco I created for the Bela vista foyer, as a vast landscape. But not the established idea of a landscape as an image to be contemplated, framed, fixed, and frozen in time. I present a charming landscape, almost an invitation to a journey. There are many landscapes: drawings, paintings, texts, graphics, maps, and mazes. I am not interested in definitions; perhaps the great power of the work lies in expanding the language of drawing and allowing it to coexist with so many other references. To travel through this landscape, there are no defined doors to enter, as everything here is a beginning — nothing has an end. It's a work that can not only be seen but also read, like a vast open book. There are many paths to be taken. Each gaze will embark on a journey, a reading, and each person can have their own experience and create their own story. It's a living drawing, constantly renewed every time someone leans over it. This landscape drawing is also an invitation to take a tour of Brazil. Which Brazil? I don't know. Is Brazil an idea? Is it a country? Is it a struggle? To me, Brazil is, above all, a fever, a shock. Brazil is a deep wound, yet always a project/landscape in construction. So, I accepted the challenge of trying to draw about my country, and I researched elements of its fauna, flora, popular culture, architecture, etc., to compile and draw images that served as a basis for the project. I also allowed myself to be carried away by the intense experience of working in loco for two months, amidst the construction and restoration work. This rich experience allowed me to incorporate into my work the stories I heard, the memories of the employees of what the place was like before the renovation. I drew plants that I saw being brought in daily to Cidade Matarazzo and embraced the suggestions of the dozens of people who passed by the site every day and talked to me about my drawings. João Ubaldo Ribeiro (the late Brazilian writer and chronicler) once said in his book Viva o Povo Brasileiro: 'The secret of truth is as follows: there are no facts, only stories.' Therefore, I can say that my work conveys these stories. There, I speak of places, animals, plants, people, legends... but be careful: nothing is truly ours. We travel, discover animals, love and lose people, invent legends, deforest forests, and cultivate gardens. But ultimately, we only have our stories and the paths we have traced so far."

Find out more at: virgilio-neto.com

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