Gabriel Wickbold

The photographer Gabriel Wickbold met the world of art at the age of 12, when he wrote and published a book of poetry, the result of his first observation process, when he transformed the ludic universe of children into poems. Multitasking and fast-paced, Gabriel is a typical representative of the millenial generation. After poetry, he moved on to music. He spent 10 years playing, formed a few bands, set up a studio, a recording and a production company. But it was in photography that he found his true passion. Today he is one of the most respected Brazilian photographers of the new generation, with work recognised and much applauded in Brazil and abroad.

His trajectory in the profession began in 2006, when he decided to set off on what would be his first series of photographs: Brazilians. He spent 45 days on the São Francisco River, from source to mouth, photographing the people who live in the region. He returned with 10,000 images of characters from the region and established himself as a fashion and advertising photographer.

Already used to the studio after having won the respect of the public and celebrities who sought to have their image produced through the artist's look and technique, in 2008 he created Sexual Colors, the first exponent of how far his artistic expression could reach. Abusing light and textures, he used paints on the naked bodies of artists and models, transforming them into canvas. In 2012, Naïve explored the man-nature relationship with shows also in Brazil and abroad. In the 2014 series Sans Tache, he criticises man's relationship with ageing and makes us think about the value and beauty of marks on the skin, and the abusive use of computer resources to manipulate an unattainable aesthetic. I am online, 2016, discusses the suffocation caused by the internet and the masks we create to survive on the various social networks.

In his fifth authorial exhibition, I am Light - You are Light, from November 2018, the artist's work mixes photographic techniques with the already traditional construction of human installations, made by painting the models and applying various elements, such as glitter. The result are true explosions of colours that transform the camera into an aura reader, capable of reproducing that intensity that the photographer wants to demonstrate in his series.   

Wickbold's authorial series are constructed through a narrative so that the viewer is contemplated with an idea. "My exhibitions usually portray an image that is very popular and easy to seduce, but the text comes in a very strong way to make the impact that this image needs to pass," says Wickbold. The photographer seeks inspirations in the contemporary human being and in everyday issues such as sustainability, ageing, the relationship of dependency with technology, sexuality, female empowerment, and others.

In 2018, artist and gallerist Gabriel Wickbold cemented his name among the hottest new Brazilian artsy scene. A sales success in this year's editions of SP-Arte and SP-Arte/Foto, the Rio de Janeiro native - who participated for the first time in both fairs - was a hit. Without being dazzled by the commercial acceptance of his work, at the same time he values the art business, Gabriel knows that to be able to express oneself through the complexity of the image is fundamental and that to remain in people's unconscious should be the purpose of every artist. With a very high performance visual effect, his photographs are full of themes and questions, and do much more than just attract the eye by their extravagant hues: they play with the limit between fantasy and reality in such an authorial way that has become his signature.

Self-taught, the heir of the Wickbold family has always been very close to the businesses that were run by his father, from where came the taste for business. From his artist mother he brought the artistic influences. As he himself defines it, his work is "eye candy", colourful, fun, pop in the vein, as if it were an eye candy, easy to understand, appetizing and that pleases diverse audiences. "Above all we are art sellers. Being in people's homes is the purpose of this business."

Since he founded his own gallery, which bears his name, Gabriel has transformed his Studio into a space for exchange between artists from all over the world, and, naturally, he went in search of other photographers with works that dialogue with his, becoming their representative in Brazil.

Por: Galeria Gabriel Wickbold