Black Art in Brazil: Expressions of Identity

• Published in: Bulletin of Hispanic studies (Liverpool : Liverpool University Press : 1996) 2017, Vol.94 (1), p.120-123
• Main Author: Rodrigues, Felipe Fanuel Xavier
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• Subjects: Artists; Cultural heritage; Diaspora; Field study; Race; Religion
• ISSN: 1475-3839; 1478-3398

[...]not only does the book present critical commentary on the black artistic production of Afro-Brazilians but it also draws on the artists' views to better understand the complexity of their artworks. According to Cleveland, Neves's oeuvre is a veritable criticism of the marginalization of black Brazilians nowadays, 'mirroring how the systems of social inequality instituted during the era of slavery have carried over into neocolonialist practices in modern and contemporary Brazil' (109). Describing a generational shiftin terms of media, subject matter and intent between modern and contemporary artists, the author makes a case for an emerging black Brazilian art which has the distinction of conveying blackness in a more accessible way via quotidian references to black experience with a more regional focus, as well as being produced by artists who have better access to artistic education and also resist the Afro-Brazilian art label for complex personal reasons. [...]for Cleveland, what is specific to contemporary artists is the practice of conducting research for their artistic production and the insertion of their own bodies into their artwork. [...]Cleveland's book is a critical investigation of the modern and contemporary history of black Brazilian art that greatly contributes to the studies on the artistic production of African descendants in the world.