Fernando Zarif: Before beginning I end

Before beginning I end, first solo show by Fernando Zarif (1960 – 2010) at Luciana Brito Galeria, is as a gateway, a provocation for a deeper dive into the production of the artist, who’s still little known in Brazil, mostly because of his own reluctance to advertise his production.

Contemporary of the so-called 1980s generation, he developed his work without regard to the trends of his time, characterized by the professionalization of the market and by a circuit of increasing institutionalization. In his very independent manner, he produced not only in several media, but also in different fields. He created paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, performances, concertos, music album’s covers, operas, music and video-installations.

Comprising around 15 pieces, the exhibition Before beginning I end – titled after one of the several texts written by the artist – presents an excerpt of Fernando Zarif’s production guided by the relevance of the drawing in his artistic process and by the plurality of forms that his drawing could take.

According to artist José Resende in the book Fernando Zarif – uma obra a contrapelo (Metalivros, 2014), “the core of his production is located there, specially in the drawing that he develops as painting, collage, object, in other words, that manifests his way of being and relating with the world”.

PROJECT FERNANDO ZARIF AND THE PARTNERSHIP WITH LUCIANA BRITO GALERIA 

Fernando Zarif had his production somewhat eclipsed by the power of his persona. He ended up being more known by his magnetic personality and the influence he held over many artists, musicians, actors, poets and journalists of his generation than by his work, which he preferred to kept hidden from the public and even from his family.

Since his passing, his extensive production has been attaining increased awareness, especially due to the efforts of the Project Fernando Zarif – created by his family in 2011, it that has been restoring and cataloguing his works. Wishing to contribute with the promotion of the artist’s legacy, Luciana Brito Galeria has been a partner of the project and representative of the estate since 2014.

With this show, the gallery and the project aim to offer to the public an opportunity to get in contact with a part of this broad and plural production that hasn’t yet been extensively exhibited (while living, the artist has presented nine solo shows), especially if we consider the relevance and volume of his body of work. Additionally to the exhibition, more works can be seen at the Project Fernando Zarif, which can be visited by appointment.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST

Both the desire of a free and authentic craft as Zarif’s multidisciplinary vocation were already manifest during his education, when he dropped out of architecture college to attend free courses and private classes, as phtography, painting and cinema. Amongst his mentors, the most noteworthy are the poet Décio Pignatari, pivotal figure of Brazilian Concretism, and the composer Hans-Joachim Koellreutter.

In 1982, he presented his first solo show, at the Gabinete Fotográfico of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. In 1983, he presented performances at MASP and a video-installation at the Museum of Image and Sound - MIS. For the following years, he organized performances, exhibitions and musical projects in institutions like Sesc Pompeia, Paço das Artes and Centro Cultural São Paulo. From 1989 to 1997, he took part in several group exhibits and had many solo shows, as in the Museum of Modern Art - MAM, in Rio de Janeiro. In 1998, he presented a major exhibition at the Maison des Arts André Malraux, in France. His last show was a group exhibit at Espaço Tom Jobim, Rio de Janeiro, in 2009. 

In music, Zarif gained notoriety for his work with the group Titãs. He composed songs with the band and created the album covers for “Tudo ao Mesmo Tempo Agora” (1991) and “Titanomaquia” (1993), which was also titled by him, inspired by the clash of the Titans from Greek mythology.