Lieu d’exposition
/ Exhibition place
Biography
Born in Salvador, Brazil in 1948, José Antônio Cunha is a visual artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and costume designer. He has participated in major visual arts biennials and solo and group exhibitions, including The Refugee Project at the Museum of African Art in New York in 1997 and Contemporary Art Exhibition: The Doors of the World in Europe and Africa in 2006. He also participated in the Biennale Internationale de Design de Saint-Étienne in France and in the exhibition Design Brasileiro – Fronteiras in 2009 at the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo, Brazil. In his international trajectory, he has participated in black art exhibitions in Los Angeles and Oakland, USA.
Approach and works on display
Carnaval Ouro Negro (2023)
“Carnaval Ouro Negro is the pictorial reproduction of a trio elétrico, the truck housing the most important sound system of the Bahia carnival, decorated by the artist J. Cunha. Author of numerous brands and logos, book illustrations and album covers, prints, sets for shows and events, J. Cunha still has his name permanently linked to the carnival, for having created and signed the visual and aesthetic design of the Ilê Aiyê block.
His work is characterised by an immersion in the imaginary of the Afro-diasporic and popular cultures of the Brazilian Northeast. By adopting his own vocabulary, the artist introduces us to his unique, symbolic and magical universe. “