Elvis de Almeida’s Ponta Seca Torta / Faca Cega [Twisted Dry Edge / Blunt Knife] presents twelve paintings of different sizes. Using a palette of electric colors and a well-defined visual vocabulary, Elvis occupies a singular position in the Brazilian contemporary production. He always tries to be placed in a situation of instability in his process. Without projects, sketches nor models, this strategy allows him to search for solutions as he carries on with his work. He uses oil, acrylic, spray paint, vinyl paint, enamel, highlighter, graffiti, charcoal, among other materials. Elvis faces each material choice as a game proposition, in which each decision triggers new deadlocks and their solutions represent the conclusion of the work.

Since he has a B.A. in Printing from Escola de Belas Artes – UFRJ, the artist translated that technique into painting. Many elements in his works are “printed” on canvas and wood using instruments he created himself out of sponge. His work assembles graffiti and cartoon elements, translated and agglutinated in saturated contrasting colors. His visual vocabulary is supported, on the one hand, by physical forms – sun, ray, flame, drop, leaves, molecules – and, on the other, by architecture through geometric patterns either striped or circular, many of which depicting memories from real places. These two sets are in constant conflict in pieces full of friction and spark.

Elvis Almeida was born in 1985 in Rio de Janeiro, where he lives and works. He has a degree in Engraving at UFRJ (2013) and attended courses on silk-screening at EAV Parque Lage and Art History at Redes da Maré, both in Rio de Janeiro. His solo exhibitions include: O cotidiano das estruturas familiares, Projeto Tech Nô, Oi Futuro Flamengo (Rio de Janeiro, 2017); Certezas para dobrar, Mercedes Viegas Arte Contemporânea (Rio de Janeiro, 2016); Uma cidade de xapisco dividida por um muro de cau, Amarelonegro Arte Contemporânea (Rio de Janeiro, 2010). Among his collective exhibitions, we can point out: Pintura, Caixa Cultural (Rio de Janeiro, 2017); Um Desassossego, Galeria Estação (São Paulo, 2016); Oito artistas, Mendes Wood DM (São Paulo, 2016); Gramática Urbana, Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica (Rio de Janeiro, 2012); Arte Pará, Fundação Romulo Maiorana (Belém, 2011); Reality Reimagined, Modified Arts (Phoenix, 2010); Abre Alas 6, A Gentil Carioca (Rio de janeiro, 2010); VI Bienal Internacional de Arte SIART (La Paz, 2009); Iluminando o Novo, Largo das Artes e Espaço Furnas Cultural (Rio de Janeiro, 2009). Next October, Elvis Almeida will participate in the 20th Festival de Arte Contemporânea Sesc_Videobrasil (São Paulo).