We are pleased to present Anjo e Boneco (guaches, 2013) [Angel and Doll (gouaches, 2013)], a new solo show by artist Nuno Ramos at Galeria Fortes Vilaça. The show features a series of new large-scale drawings, all made in gouache.

The exhibition’s title is taken from Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke – “Angel and doll: then at last it’s theater”. Nuno Ramos, who is himself a writer, is frequently inspired by the work of other poets, writers and composers. His series of previous drawings was based on the famous diary of memoirs by Daniel Paul Schreber; also, in Faca só Lâmina, a series of drawings on aluminum, Nuno used lines excerpted from a poem by João Cabral de Melo Neto, to cite just a few examples.

Unlike in the previous drawings, however, in this new series the artist uses only a few elements and materials to compose the works. The compositions are all made with gouache, charcoal and dry pastel, for the most part presenting only a single color in contrast with the black of the charcoal. There are geometric shapes combined with gestural lines, as in Anjo e Boneco 18: Compreendemos Facilmente os Criminosos [Angel and Doll 18: We Easily Understand the Criminals]. The interplay between the lines and shapes always seems to be on the verge of disequilibrium. There is a anticipation for the future, the composition is not static. Nuno also incorporates drips and splotches caused by the paints, injecting randomness into the process of creation.

A common feature of nearly all the drawings, beyond the title of the series, is that they have different lines of poetry, also excerpted from Rilke’s IV Elegy, printed with charcoal in block letters on the paper. “Como o coração de uma bela maçã” [Like the heart of a beautiful apple] or “abandonas a serenidade dos mortos” [you abandon the serenity of the dead] can be read among the lines, semicircles and ink that form the composition. By excerpting the lines from their original context and including them in the drawings, Nuno explores the resonance of the words in a context of abstraction.

By aligning all the drawings on the wall, very close to each other, around the gallery space, the artist creates his own narrative, his own visual and literary poem. There is a latent beauty, of the same power as his sculptures.

Nuno Ramos was born in 1960, in São Paulo, where he lives and works. He graduated in philosophy from the Universidade de São Paulo in 1982. A visual artist, composer, filmmaker and writer, he has participated in various group and solo shows, the most notable recent ones being: in 2012, O Globo da morte de tudo (in partnership with Eduardo Climachauska) at Galeria Anita Schwartz, Rio de Janeiro, Ai Pareciam Eternas! at Galeria Celma Albuquerque, Belo Horizonte, and Solidão, Palavra, at Sesc Pompéia, São Paulo; in 2010, Fruto Estranho at MAM, Rio de Janeiro; and the 29th Bienal de São Paulo. In 2011, Iluminuras publishers released his eighth book, Junco, which won the Prêmio Portugal Telecom de Literatura in the poetry category. In 2008, he won the Prêmio Portugal Telecom for the best book of the year with Ó, also published by Iluminuras.