Terceiro Ato: Sortilégio

The trajectory of Abdias Nascimento merges with the characteristics of Eshu, the Orisha of communication and guardian of the paths, as an artist who played a key role in the dissemination of Brazilian Black art abroad and who contributed to expanding the understanding of Candomblé as a conception of life and philosophy of the universe.  

Nascimento combines the symbols and languages of Candomblé with the influence of the landscapes and scenes from the United States and Nigeria, where he lived from 1968 to 1981, intensifying his painting production and becoming a reference for Brazilian Black art abroad. His works and the proposal for the Museu de Arte Negra gain strength, relevance, and recognition. 

Abdias Nascimento researches Afro-diasporic cultures and religiosities and understands his art as an instrument of communication and knowledge that connects social and political struggle with ancestry. From his first visits to the African continent, Abdias Nascimento deepens his relationship with signs characteristic of African cultures, incorporating ideograms and symbolsinto his paintings. 

Nascimento was already dedicated to producing his first paintings in Brazil, but a return to his homeland became unfeasible due to the establishment of a military regime. Other artists followed suit. Amilcar de Castro, Rubens Gerchman, Hélio Oiticica, Regina Vater, Anna Maria Maiolino, and Anna Bella Geiger were also transiting the US art scene. They are part of Third Act: Spell.  

It was at this time that he traveled across the country and communicated distinctive aspects of Brazilian reality. After being a visiting researcher at Wesleyan University, he was invited to be a professor of “Black Cultures in the Americas” at the State University of New York, Buffalo, where he met Elisa Larkin, his translator, interpreter, and partner with whom he founded the Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Afro-Brasileiros – IPEAFRO, in 1981. 

In 1968, when he began producing his own paintings, Nascimento turned to signs from the worship of the Orishas, symbols of the resistance and the spiritual vitality of the Black presence in Brazil. When he publishes a manifesto for his exhibition at El Taller Boricua, Nascimento brings together artists who are also connected to their African origins, such as Rubem Valentim, Mestre Didi, Emanoel Araujo, and others. 

Through the performances of Teatro Experimental do Negro – TEN, as well as in his intellectual production and artistic work, Abdias Nascimento honors elements of Afro-Brazilian religiosity as fundamental counterpoints to the hegemony of Eurocentric and Christian values. The Orishas are present in the paintings of Abdias Nascimento as forces of the present, bearing the names of people close to him and honoring people who were in the ongoing struggle for resistance and freedom. 

Terceiro Ato: Sortilégio was curated by Instituto Inhotim and Ipeafro (2023). 

Virtual exhibition resulting from the show of the same name, on display at Galeria Mata do Inhotim since March 18, 2023.