English
MCCHJ Mission, Vision and Values Statement.
Mission: To preserve, conserve and disseminate the memory, the work, the collections and the house where the multi-artist Hermano José lived and to stimulate the contemporary artistic and scientific production in visual arts, museology and other artistic-cultural segments, in respect to the artist's legacy, the cultural and environmental diversity, and the plurality of identities, acting as mediator between society, the community and its cultural heritage, developing actions in the fields of research, extension, and teaching with a dialogical and critical character.
Vision: To become a national reference in study, reflection and research about the life and work of Hermano José and the arts of the state of Paraíba, promoting good educational and cultural practices in production, management, diffusiono, democratization and access to art and culture, consolidating itself as a museological institution present in the territory and in the region, acting for the development of the artistic-cultural circuits.
MCCHJ Presentation Text
The Hermano José House of Culture Museum (MCCHJ), installed on May 19, 2017, from the donation in life of the house and all the belongings of the teacher, artist, designer, engraver, cultural manager, poet, theater director, set designer, cultural and environmental activist, illustrator, and graphic designer Hermano Guedes de Melo, famously known as Hermano José, represents a strong connection of this plural man with the entity in which he formed many of his colleagues, admirers, and followers, as well as a symbolic landmark in the history of the restructuring of the memory spaces of the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB).
The old residence, the place where he developed his artistic experiences, deepened his techniques, and appreciated good music, his private experiences, as well as the affection of his family ties, took as a foundation the nature that was witness to his daily life. A few months after his death, UFPB made efforts to adapt the property into an essential space, preserving the dictates established by Hermano José, in Notary, by requesting that the house be “made available for public visitation with all possible conditions”.
A multidisciplinary team composed by professionals, teachers and students from different areas of knowledge such as Architecture and Urbanism, Archiving, Visual Arts, Librarianship, Interior Design, Civil Engineering, Museology and Restoration of Movable and Integrated Assets, in partnership with the INSS Cultural, started the listing of all the collection left in the house, such as works of art (among paintings, drawings, engravings, and sculptures), oratories, furniture, clocks, phonographic artifacts, LP's, CD's, books, and a myriad of objects that also revealed him as a collector of refined and eclectic taste.
With such a plural collection, the old house/atelier went through a necessary intervention process, focusing on safety, accessibility and visibility, adapting the spaces and adapting them to the new use, with expographic structures specially designed to house the collections and, in this way, allow the public to understand his universe, and the multiple faces of this visionary man for his time, becoming, the Hermano José House of Culture Museum.
The relationship of the house with the outside world, especially the sea and the garden, are one of the most sublime characteristics of the place, which Hermano José expressed in his verse:
"Here I arrived
Here I stayed
Free even of longing,
Only with the ocean winds".
Curator
Bernardina Freire de Oliveira
Bertrand Martins
Nature, witness of everyday life
The enchantment of nature and all its splendor touched Hermano José since very young. From the observation of Engenho Baixa-Verde in Serraria-PB, scenery of great landscapes and exuberant nature, which marked it as "the place of aromas, colors and joy" , to the beauties of the coast of Paraíba, with its beaches of warm and crystalline waters and cliffs with an infinite range of colors and earthy tones, awakened him to become an important Ecologist and Environmental Activist, a dimension that he integrated to all other forms of performance, in addition to the environmentalist, as in the plastic arts, in his literary writings, poetry, opinion pieces and social actions.
Since his arrival in João Pessoa in 1936, as a teenager, he was enchanted by the natural beauties of the capital of Paraíba, especially the beaches and cliffs of the coast, especially the cliff of Cabo Branco, which he portrayed from the 1940s in oil from different angles until 1956, the year he moved to Rio de Janeiro, which did not prevent him from continuing his work on the city of João Pessoa, recording not only the beauties of nature in his paintings, drawings and engravings, but also denouncing its deterioration, in addition to engaging in favor of the environment and defense of the natural heritage of the State of Paraíba.
With his ecological activism, he directly contributed to the creation of civil institutions for environmental protection, such as the Associação Paraibana dos Amigos da Natureza (APAN), a non-governmental organization founded in 1978, with the objective of promoting the defense of the environment in Paraíba and the preservation of state's natural ecosystems.
Upon returning to Paraíba in 1979, at the beginning of the following decade, in another visionary action, alongside his friend, the landscaper and also plastic artist, Roberto Burle Marx, Hermano José proposed the creation of Cabo Branco Garden, with the purpose of preservation and conservation of Cabo Branco cliff, one of the most important geographic features in the country, located at the easternmost point of the Americas. Understanding the tourist potential and ecological importance of the place, Burle Marx recommended that Cabo Branco Garden would preserve its scenic harmony through the construction of a dam of artificial reefs that would protect the base of the cliff, which suffers from the natural wear of the sea waves, with pollution and also with human interference. Despite all the repercussion, popular support and the Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage of the State of Paraíba (IPHAEP), the project was shelved.
As a member of the IPHAEP Council in 1987, he fought alongside the academic community, environmental and cultural movements, in protests against the emergence of tall buildings on the edge of the capital. In this context, in 1989, he was one of the main responsible, whose speech in the Legislative Assembly was decisive in the defense, to convince the Deputies, regarding the need of inclusion in the Constitution of the State of Paraíba of the article 229, that say:
The coastal zone, in the territory of the State of Paraíba, is an environmental, cultural, landscape, historical and ecological heritage, in the range of five hundred meters in width, from the high tide of sizígia to the interior of the continent, being the responsibility of the state agency of protection of the environment, its defense and preservation, in accordance with the law.
In 1992, he participated in the IV Bikoo/ten Art Exhibition – RIO 92, with the engraving “ Cabo Branco, until when ? ”, together with 24 other artists from different countries around the world, during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Eco-92, based in Rio de Janeiro, which brought together several heads of state to debate global environmental problems.
His ideas remain as a significant legacy and reference for ecological preservation in the state of Paraíba.
TWICE DOESN'T
You don't make the world twice:
Twice the moon,
Twice the Sea.
Don't do it twice:
The slope of the Southern Cross,
The diverse rotation of the Astros,
Sunlight streaking dawn,
twilights burned
For the sleep of birds.
Twice will not do:
the direction of the waves
Over translucent crabs.
tropical rains
Flowing in mighty rivers,
night pororoca,
Revolving Hauntings.
But, if you do:
Black foams of underground oils,
Asphyxiating clouds at unpredictable hours,
Dead seas sunk in debris,
Deserts of scorched greens,
Earth disfigured from pole to pole.
useless land
rejected tomb
Of human failure.
The Art of Service
An important part of the gastronomic experience, 'service', as the practice of organization and art of how food is presented and served is known, constitutes one of the largest collections in the MCCHJ collection.
The set of utensils, consisting of plates, cutlery, glasses, cups, beverage containers, pots, platters, butter dishes, among many other items used to prepare and serve food, has been improving over the centuries, incorporating new materials, shapes, styles, colors and technologies in its production, with the objective of making the act of eating even more pleasurable and practical. Initially restricted to a small and privileged part of society, these 'services' spread with the increase of the industrial production.
This very eclectic collection, possessor by Hermano José over decades, both for his domestic use and for his enjoyment, is made up of items that range from the finest porcelain to the popular 'American glass'. Coming from several countries in the world such as England, Holland, China and the United States, the tableware examples are distinguished by the varied range of patterns and production techniques, such as the 'Standard Blue Blur' , 'Standard Blue' , 'Standard Willow' , 'Floral Pattern' , 'Polychrome Floral Pattern' and 'Polychrome Pattern in Relief' , produced between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
Examples of national manufacture can also be found, with items from the brands Porcelain Oxford, Porcelain Schmidt, Porcelain SRS, Porcelain Porto Ferreira and also the most popular, present in Brazilian homes, such as the Vidraria Santa Marina factories, holders of the famous brands of Marinex , Colorex and Duralex refractories, and the Termo-Rey line manufactured by Brasvidros , of the Nadir Figueiredo Group .
However, the highlight of this collection is the Porcelain Monte Sião, with the largest number of examples of different typologies, having as a differential its artisanal production, in an exclusive way, with its delicate blue flowers, in which each piece is treated as only.
The Art of Sounds and Time.
Hermano José's relationship with music started in his childhood, having as a reference his father, Raul Espinola Guedes, who played the organ and was the conductor of the band in the city of Caiçara, and his mother, Maria Alice Espinola de Melo, who sang in the church choiral. The boy Hermano grew up in an environment that breathed music, and from an early age learned to interact in a universe of diversified sounds.
Over the years, he has collected a phonographic collection that currently has more than 3,000 titles, composed of vinyl records, CD's, and DVD's that go through several eras and styles, bringing together the most varied musical genres, ranging from classical music to Brazilian popular music, from Pink Floyd's psychedelia to the romanticism tied to Amado Batista's brega.
Within this versatile and extensive collection of musical tastes and genres, it is possible to find the records of artists from the Golden Era of Brazilian Radio, such as Dalva de Oliveira, Orlando Silva, Nelson Gonçalves, Francisco Alves, and Emilinha Borba, among many other names. However, it is in the genre of classical music that the collection predominates, and names such as Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninov, and Vivaldi have a prominent place.
One of the curiosities of this vast musical collection are the items of authorship of maestro and composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. A fan of the maestro in his youth, Hermano José got an autograph of Heitor Villa-Lobos after a presentation of the maestro at Theatro Santa Roza, in downtown João Pessoa.
He used to gather friends at his residence to discuss plastic arts, literature, environment, poetry, and the new musical languages that were emerging, with good conversation and a lot of music, and it is with this collection that the artist invites us to a sound trip to his plural musical universe.
Teacher Hermano José Library - BPHJ
With a multifaceted collection of approximately 3.000 titles, with circumscribed and specialized works in the areas of art, culture and humanities, the BPHJ reflects the profile of avid reader Hermano José, who, mainly as an artist and teacher, drank from various sources for their training and education, transiting through various themes, authors and genres, from the the most specialized and academic, to the literary, whether national or foreign. His intense relationship with reading led to the constitution of a very diverse and plural private library, both from the bibliological and bibliographical point of view.
As a unit linked to the Research and Documentation Sector of the MCCHJ, the BPHJ was initially composed of the bibliographic collection donated by Hermano José himself, to which other titles acquired later were added, which make up the Research and Circulation Collection, the result of the acquisition policy, updating and expansion of collections with works in the areas of visual arts, literature, cinema, performing arts, culture and society, among other humanities, such as philosophy, history, art history, psychology, in addition to historical and artistic-cultural encyclopedias, specialized dictionaries and artistic catalogues, acting as an independent unit, with integrated access and connected to the UFPB Library System.
,Mission: To ensure the access and democratization of information for the production of knowledge in the areas of arts, culture and humanities, through its collection, services and actions, contributing to the development of Teaching, Research and Extension activities.The Museum Casa de Cultura Hermano José and other similar institutions, assuming the responsibility to safeguard and disseminate the memory and the scientific and cultural heritage under its custody.
Vision: To become recognized as a specialized library of excellence and a national reference in the management and mediation of information, in the provision of services and in the stimulation of scientific and cultural production, with a collection that meets the demands of the academic community and society in general.
The Sacred in Hermano
Religiosity has always been present in Hermano José's life, even before he was born. According to the artist, his mother, Maria Alice Espínola Guedes, wanted his name to be Hermano José in honor of St. Hermano José Steinfeld, a saint of the Catholic Church born on May 24, 1150 in Cologne, Germany, but for reasons beyond his control, the name Hermano Guedes de Melo appears on his birth certificate. However, this name was so widely used by the family that it became established in the school, and was later incorporated as a stage name.
Catholic, Hermano José made the act of attending mass a family ritual, taking whenever possible his relatives to the celebrations, such as nephews, cousins, brothers, and also friends who sought encouragement for their daily problems in spirituality. He felt so good when he was in the midst of the sacred atmosphere that he tried to attend the Midnight Mass every year before the Christmas meal; although he was not devoted to any saint, he had a special affection for the figure of madonna.
This devotion to Catholicism extended to one of his collections, which is revealed in the affection in which he kept them in his bedroom. The collection consists of oratories, crucifixes, liturgical and devotional objects, and dozens of images of saints of various origins, produced between the end of the nineteenth century and the third quarter of the twentieth century, in styles ranging from baroque to popular art, made of polychrome wood, metal, and ceramics, expressing the artistic beauty of religious imagery.
"The peace
Peace to sleep
To Dream that Men Have Forgotten Evil
And love each other just the same
Forever
On earth as it is in heaven".
Hermano José
Hermano José, the accumulator collector
A complex, diversified, and sometimes chaotic collector, Hermano José has built up an extensive museum, archive, and bibliographic collection. This first type of collection goes beyond his art collection, consisting of paintings, drawings, engravings, sculptures and ceramics. Most of the collections have a significant amount of items, which, before the creation of the Museum, were scattered throughout the rooms of the house and mixed among boxes and furniture.
The collection of porcelains, and earthenware, one of the largest, has hundreds of items ranging from the most popular brands to octagonal and oval platters from the makers Maltese and Albany. In the field of imagery, there are oratories, images of worship and adoration of the sacred, ranging from the barroco style to popular art.
The furniture collection is made up of more than 100 pieces, including cabinets, chests of drawers, dressers, tables, beds, sideboards, benches, and chairs. His phonographic collection consists of 2,500 CDs and 400 vinyl records, revealing the eclectic profile of Hermano José's musical listener, which is complemented by an audiovisual collection formed by VHS tapes and DVDs.
The clocks demonstrated the Chronos of the collector-artist, more than 40 pocket watches from the beginning of the 20th century, most from the Omega line of Swiss watches, as well as wall clocks that turned everyday life into the ticking of art.
Another collection, the bibliographic, is originally formed by about 2,800 items, including books, magazines and newspapers, of various genres, including scientific and literary, which, together, make up the Professor Hermano José Library. It is still possible to point out archival collections, with 4 linear meters of documentation, including personal items, such as letters, texts, notes, reflections, and institutional items, such as official letters, official journals, projects, among others, which range from their intimacy to their public performance in the cultural institutions of Paraíba.
Records show his house taken by all these and other objects revealing a world apart, full of art objects, others not so artful, but all building a fragment of the great Hermano. Not by chance, when he was still alive, he sometimes complained to friends about the difficulty of keeping his personal collection, vast and complex, costly and demanding, far beyond his capacity to manage.
The Educator, researcher and cultural manager
In 1947, the Centro de Artes Plásticas da Paraíba (CAP) was set up in Paraíba's capital city, as the first permanent pedagogical experience in the diffusion of free teaching of the plastic arts, which was later continued with the Grupo Tomás Santa Rosa and the Cultural Department of the UFPB. Alongside José Lyra, Olívio Pinto, Leon Clerot and Pinto Serrano, besides participating in its foundation, it was at CAP that the young Hermano José, at 25 years of age, discovered his vocation for teaching, acting in the promotion, encouragement and initiation of artistic work.He promoted, encouraged and initiated the artistic work of names such as Clarice Lins, Ivan Freitas, Archidy Picado and Breno Matos, through successive generations such as Flávio Tavares, Miguel dos Santos, Fred Svedsen, Clóvis Junior, Martinho Patrício and Walter Wagner, who maintained with him, for years on end, a relationship of respect, admiration and friendship.
In addition to teaching, CAP was an irradiator of local artistic production, revealing new talents, its members gained prominence by actively participating in the illustrations of books, magazines and newspapers in Paraíba, especially the Correio das Artes, as well as, in annual collective exhibitions, the example of what happened in 1950, in the recently inaugurated Headquarters Building of the Institute for Pensions and Retirement of State Servants (IPASE), which was attended by José Lins do Rego.
After his stay in Rio de Janeiro (1956/1976), Hermano José returned to his hometown and settled in the Paraíba state capital, where he began teaching at the UFPB. Installs the Metal Engraving Laboratory, and becomes professor of the subject of Engraving. He then became a member of the IPHAEP Council, and defended the protection of Paraíba's built, artistic, and natural cultural heritage as a means of preservation.
At the end of 1978, together with the then Governor Ivan Bichara, he conceived the first Art Museum of Paraíba, with the aim of collecting art from Paraíba, since the 19th century, in addition to modern and contemporary art, integrating the organizing committee alongside artists such as João Câmara and Gilvan Samico. Despite the submission of the Bill to the State Legislative Assembly, which would enable the construction of the new Museum, including the architectural project attached, the plans changed course with the departure and candidacy of the Governor to the Federal Senate.
Upon assuming the Government of Paraíba in 1979, Tarcísio Burity, installs in the neighborhood of Tambauzinho a new cultural equipment: the Fundação Espaço Cultural José Lins do Rêgo (FUNESC) in 1982, designed by architect and urban planner Sérgio Bernardes, with the proposal of a Convention Center to hold large fairs and other events. Although there have been public hearings for the installation of the museum, within the FUNESC premises, the project was shelved due to lack of consensus. However, Hermano José, a professor at UFPB, takes over the coordination of the Plastic Arts Sector of the new institution, where he taught drawing and organized the first exhibitions.
Hermano José's teaching career while at UFPB was fruitful for the arts field and he worked to strengthen teaching and research in the arts. One of his last achievements, before retiring, was to chair the Commission for the creation of the Pinacoteca UFPB, in 1987, of which he was the first coordinator, with the aim of gathering the artistic collection of the institution.s artistic collection, creating the first Art Museum in João Pessoa and building a space for research and reference of visual arts. The Pinacoteca is linked to the Arts Department of the Communication, Tourism, and Arts Center (CCTA), a space to promote teaching, research, and extension in the field of visual arts at UFPB.
Another managerial action took place after taking over, in 1993, the Cultural Department of the Municipality of João Pessoa, namely the implementation of the Viva Cultura Law, which was later called Fundo Municipal de Cultura (FMC), the implementation of the scenic project of the Passion of Christ and the resumption of the Municipal Plastic Arts Salon (SAMAP), a national event, considered a reference in terms of diffusion and revelation of new talents.
His trajectory as an educator intertwined that of a researcher and cultural manager at the same time!
The art behind the scenes
From the canvases painted in "plein air", at the foot of the Barreira do Cabo Branco, to the 'black boxes' on theater stages, the artist showed all his talent also as a director, sound designer, set designer, and costume designer.
Invited by Ruy Eloy, then president of the Student Theater of Paraíba, in 1955, to direct the play "Cantam as Harpas de Sião" (1948), by Ariano Suassuna, written in a single act, which later became known as "O Despertar da Princesa" (The Awakening of the Princess), presented at the Santa Roza Theater. Despite having a smaller stage than the current one, Hermano José created a scenographic atmosphere of great dramatic impact that the play required; in the soundtrack, the soundtrack involved the Six Suites for Cello by J.S. Bach (1685-1750), in a performance recorded by the Catalan cellist and conductor Pablo Casals (1876-1973). In the cast, young newcomers Celso Almir and Auzenda Ferreira stood out with their performances and contributed to the success of the public and critics who, at the time, already pointed out the importance of the play in promoting a dramatic movement of relevance in the struggle for the elevation of theater in Paraíba.
The premiere of the show was attended by Ariano Suassuna, accompanied by his mother, Mrs. Cássia Vilar. At the end, the writer autographed one of the play's posters, on which he commented,
"Hermano: I could notice the remarkable intuition that you proved, directing my play. Ariano's embrace".
Still in the 1950s, for the set design of the play "A Corda", he was awarded the Silver Medal at the II National Theater Festival, in Natal-RN. He was also scenographer for the play "The Great Theater of the World" by Calderón de La Barca, presented at the Santo Antônio Convent Square, currently the São Francisco Cultural Center in the city of Paraiba.
Considered one of his daring projects in this field was the outdoor scenic project "A Paixão de Cristo" (The Passion of Christ), implemented during his administration, when he took over the Department of Culture of the Municipality of João Pessoa in 1993. Its first performances took place in Praça Pedro Américo, in front of the Santa Roza Theater. Later, the spectacle began to be staged at the Praça Vidal de Negreiros, also known as Ponto de Cem Réis, with a team of 150 people among actors, musicians, corps de ballet, and technical support, for an audience, at the time, of approximately 25,600 people, staged in eight sections that occur annually during Holy Week.
Printed Art
It was in the graphic arts, with illustrations for newspapers, poems, posters, catalogs, folders, invitations, book covers, and periodicals, that Hermano José began to have his work recognized, with the award-winning work "Vencida" (Overdue), published in the Diário de Pernambuco newspaper, on July 19, 1948.
He was active in several media, one of the main ones being the newspaper A União, which published in its Sunday editions, in the literary supplement Correio das Artes, articles, vignettes, and poems, alongside Simeão Leal and Thomás Santa Rosa and of artists in evidence, of national and international renown, standing out Quirino Campofiorito, Yllen Kerr, José Tinet, Fokko, Guy Mees, José Pancetti, and Oswaldo Goeldi among others.
The most important are the illustrations for Jornal Diretriz (1956), the short story by Franz Kafka “O Artista do Trapézio” and the sixth poem in the book “O Aeronauta” (1952), by Cecília Meireles, a writer with the which he maintained a close friendship, in addition to the catalogs of the Festival de Areia – Plastic Artists from Paraíba - the 70s, the posters for the VII Municipal Salon of Plastic Arts (1996), and the Salon O MAR.
The book covers with folkloric verses by the poet Quito Dias, "Gemidos Matutos" (1955), of the novels "Êxodo - A nascente dos paus de arara" (1952) and "Êxodo II - A Miragem do Sul" (1954), both by José Rafael de Menezes, are added to the publication "Educational Resources of the Brazilian Museums" by Guy José Paulo de Hollanda (1958), promoted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with the collaboration of the government of Brazil, which aimed to present the repertoire of national museums in the 1950s.
However, it was during the period that he worked as an employee of Banco do Brasil, from 1945 onwards, in the field of corporate communication, that his artistic creativity raised the level of the institution’s graphic pieces and periodicals, such as the “Cadernos de Encargos” and of “AABB Magazine – Banco do Brasil Athletic Association”.
From the House/Workshop to the Hermano José House of Culture Museum
Built in the Bessa neighborhood in 1979, in front of one of the most beautiful coves on the coast of João Pessoa, overlooking the Barreira do Cabo Branco, Hermano José built his house/atelier under the technical responsibility of his brother, the Civil Engineer Silvio Guedes. Conceived by the Architects and Urban planners Antônio Amaral and Maria Berenice, at the artist's request, two construction references were incorporated into the project and became the residence's identity: the arches of the side terraces of the house, inspired by the arches of the terrace of the Ordem Terceira de São Francisco Church (João Pessoa-PB) and the central room with double-height ceilings, which refer to that of the Baixa Verde Mill (Serraria-PB).
By formally donating all its assets to UFPB, in In March 2015, by means of a public deed of donation, registered in the Notary's Office, in a charitable gesture, Hermano José revealed his personal desire to transform the place into a kind of House of Culture, establishing as a clause of charge to the donatary:
"Usufruct for life, from the donor; to create the Cultural Center with his name, within 24 months from the donor's death; to guarantee the reform of the house, with favorable conditions for public visitation; to treat technically all the objects; ensure the restoration of the House and the art objects; elaborate a project of artistic use for the property; enable public visitation, as well as ensure the conditions of safety and preservation of the property and everything that accompanied it. "
After his death on May 21, 2015, the house was closed until the intervention projects for the property were finalized. Only in December 2016, it was vacated and from then on, all its belongings were allocated at UFPB and began to be enrolled by a multidisciplinary team, starting the renovation works, as well as the preparation and execution of the Expographic Project and the Museological Plan.
The adaptation of the property from a house/atelier to a house museum, a singular challenge, with a considerable volume of objects and artworks, required a curator capable of presenting a narrative in a chronological, organized, and didactic way, in order to potentiate the multiple faces of Hermano José. In this sense, all spaces were reconfigured and adapted to the new use, with a focus on safety, visibility, and accessibility, allocating the environments for administrative activities, library, welcoming spaces, rooms and galleries for temporary and long-term exhibitions, becoming effective on May 9, 2017, the Hermano José House of Culture Museum. A desire mirrored by him in the fragments of the poem Cumplices da Criação:
Rescue the image
Trapped in the void
And return it to the light of time
This is the craft of those who work
Misty visions
Lightened at every instant
In the insomnia of existence
Through veiled paths,
Where passions struggle in adversarial struggles,
It runs along the free stroke,
Weaving architectural wefts
In unknown colors
Hallucinated faces appear
With peeping eyes,
Confusing Yourself in Doubt
Between love and hate
Interrupted smiles
On closed horizons,
Where words fall silent
Without saying anything else.
[...]
There is a recreated world
in red explosions,
marking the beginning and the end
of the sharp contours of life.
There is a contained anguish
In the hidden spaces of form,
In a feeling of amazement
to see himself as a man and an artist
accomplice of creation.
Hermano José
Hermano José, the Artist
Hermano José developed artistically in many different contexts, which allowed him different apprehensions and possibilities of expression, projecting himself and the arts of Paraíba. In his house-atelier, a space for artistic experiences and exchanges, Hermano received friends and artists, bringing to the scene the production of new visual artists from Paraiba, concerned with generating visibility much more to the new generations and others with whom he sympathized artistically. Hermano was, above all, an encourager of the arts and of artists, he spoke of his art in a subtle way, his studio, a sacred place, where few people had access. With his peculiar way of being, he went to many places, participated in many exhibitions and tributes throughout his life.
With a European background, he has been part of numerous group and solo exhibitions. His works have been shown at the Museum of Modern Art/SP, in Chile, England, Canada, Argentina, Spain, Holland, Rome, as an engraving that is part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), in New York, besides many other exhibitions in Brazil and in João Pessoa.
Hermano José was divided between exhibitions and tributes, and, starting in the 2000s, presented his collection of canvas works in the exhibition "The Hermano José Collection" (2002), at UFPB's Pinacoteca and also at Casarão 34. He was honored during the VII National Art Festival - Fenart, with the Special Room in the Printmaking Biennial, and the inauguration of the Hermano José Art Library at the Zarinha Cultural Center, when the documentary "Hermano José, Life and Work", produced by the institution, was shown. In 2011, he composed the exhibition "As cores que pulsam" and the following year, he was honored for his 90th birthday with the exhibition "Hermano José", both at Gamela Gallery, exhibiting a set of 19 works in acrylic on canvas, in which he revisits the Neoconcrete style. Finally, in 2013, his biggest retrospective was held, with an exhibition promoted by Usina Cultural Energisa, in the 10 Years - 10 Exhibitions program, entitled "Hermano José - Completeness in life-work", each one in its own time and way, accompanied by the sensibility of its curators.