Pirambu School
Around 1963, Chico da Silva left the Art Museum of the Federal University of Ceará (MAUC) and created his own studio in the Pirambu neighborhood, where he lived. His work attracted attention, and youth living nearby began to visit his house. Out of friendship and interest in Chico da Silva’s art, these young people, aged 12 to 18, started to collaborate in the production of the artworks. This collective work, coordinated by the artist, would give rise to the Pirambu School, formed by Babá (Sebastião Lima da Silva), Chica da Silva (Francisca Silva), Claudionor (José Claudionor Nogueira), Garcia (José dos Santos Gomes), and Ivan (Ivan José de Assis). As Chico da Silva introduced his collaborators to his universe of fantastic creatures, he also gave them space to bring new elements, figures, sizes, and formats into his own painting. The large panels, which are the rarest works in this production, represent a kind of pinnacle of the Pirambu School. Due to their large dimensions, they allude to the painter’s early days, back when he made wall drawings in the houses of Pirambu fishermen in a non-programmatic way. These are technically complex compositions, with richly filled figures and backgrounds. Most feature scenes that border on the surreal and depict episodes of struggle between animals and fantastic beings. The current exhibition gathers an overview of the production of these creators, a large set of fantastic beings that is still being executed today by Garcia, the only living member of the School.
Question from the art education program
What do you think connects people to build something in common?
