::"Ordem e Progresso" taken apart = 27canvases ::
>> scroll to the right >> para a direita >>

“ Ordem & Progresso” = Order and Progress

These are the words found inside the Brazilian flag.
This painting installation is made of 27 canvases of different shapes and sizes that together form the map of Brazil. Brazil has 27 official states.

I started the piece by making a collage of articles collected from Brazilian newspapers and magazines. All the articles speak of corruption, violence, injustice, poverty, etc.

After scraping most of the articles off the canvases and priming them with a gel-medium, I put the 27 canvases on the floor and used oil paint and gold leaf to put the colors and shapes on the map. The gold leaf is strategically placed in the coastline of Brazil, where most of the populations and money is concentrate.

My color choice was made very instinctively…but at the same time I wanted to bring attention to certain areas: The Amazon Forest and its devastation and the violence in the major cities.

On top of that I painted 3 birds. These birds are “Ben-te-Vis”, a typical Brazilian bird that I grew up listening to. Why 3? My lucky number. The birds represent me. Someone who flew away and now from a different perspective looks back and sees:

Brazil is one the most beautiful countries in the world, with the most vibrant nature and the most colorful and happy people living in it. But, if you look a little closer you see all the corruption, social difference, poverty, violence and desperation of a nation struggling to exist. This is my view of my country today. A perfect dichotomy. The complete opposite of Order and Progress. | BACK TO PAINTING IMAGE |