Riverside Ancestry: A Review of Davi de Jesus do Nascimento “na boca da noite, os muruins” at Instituto Çarê

Davi de Jesus do Nascimento “na boca da noite, os muruins” at Instituto Çarê

Davi de Jesus do Nascimento is an artist from the State of Minas Gerais, whose origins are in Pirapora: a city located on the longest navigable stretch of the great São Francisco River. De Jesus evokes in his poetics the ravine and riverside culture, of fishermen, of scowls (carrancas), of boats and bucolic landscapes, leading to the development of an artistic practice in which memory, personal history and social elements materialize between photographs, drawings, poetry and objects. At Instituto Çarê, De Jesus exhibits a simple set of works that, however, is very representative of his young practice. In the exhibition, we have an appropriate photograph (what seems to be an old portrait of a family member), a boat full of seeds and nuts, a rustic cradle, wooden scowl and photographs of everyday life in the artist’s areas of origin.

Davi de Jesus’ productions bring, at the same time, the memory of the materials as well as a sense of the impermanence of time. His exhibitions frequently feature daily objects dislocated from their original settings (without evoking the acidity of the readymades), appropriated photographs and drawings. The latter seem to be the most prominent element of de Jesus’ work, functioning sometimes as visual comments, sometimes as personal records. The drawings produced by the artist (mostly in ochre, brown and sepia tones) often assume organic configurations or deformations (elongated necks of scowls, for example) that evoke a certain fantastic state, or even a visual code that enhances the meanings and functions that are often attributed to protective objects (as in the case of the scowl, which serves, according to beliefs associated with them, to scare away evil spirits).

Davi de Jesus do Nascimento “Orpo Embarcação” 2019, fotografia analógica 22 x 21 cm

In some photographic works, Davi places himself in specific situations to be then photographed, portraying himself in what could be read as performances carried out in the midst of everyday life. In other photographs, the artist changes the image of his own body, employing objects, animals, or even carrying out interventions on the photograph itself when it is displayed (here the artist uses objects, or even animal carcasses, in a collage-like intervention). In many cases there is a certain tone of exoticization of the figure of the artist himself, which is not clear to us if it is something ironic and critical, or poetic. This imprecision makes the works even more curious, letting them float between the fine readings that connect contemporary art to the long tradition of anthropological exhibitions.

Self-representation seems then to be the core element, and probably one of the strongest characteristics in Davi’s work (and we can see it appearing also in the practice of other artists from recent generations). The strength of the memory and context that the artist carries within himself—and that manifests in the works—become visual chronicles that present to the public a very honest testimony of a reality little known (and even ignored) by the large urban centers of Brazil.

Davi de Jesus do Nascimento “na boca da noite, os muruins”
Instituto Çarê
R. Dr. Avelino Chaves, 138, Vila Leopoldina, São Paulo
Through June 24