Vitoria Basaia

Victoria Basaia

Following the artistic movement in Mato Grosso since 1978, I have seen many values born in this fertile land of talents.

Some emerged in an overwhelming way, only to stagnate and fade away. Others, after modest beginnings, grew stronger, evolved, and became household names. And the process continues. The effect of this powerful cultural ferment introduced by the duo Aline Figueiredo / Humberto Espíndola is far from over.

 However, I could not imagine that Cuiabá still had its secrets. And one of them appeared on one of my last visits to the city, in the form of an unexpected and disturbing creator named Vitória Basaia.

  At first I found it strange that her work was hardly mentioned, since she is one of the few "brute" artists in Brazil, moving in a direction where only Tereza d'Amico in São Paulo, Franklin Cascaes and Eli Heil in Santa Catarina, and now Moacir Faria, in Chapada dos Veadeiros, stand out. Art Brut", as defined by painter Jean Dubuffet in the 1930s, is nourished by the language of the unconscious and archetypal permanence, generating a work that does not prioritize aesthetics, but meaning and symbolism.

  Because it is an artistic manifestation that, besides being rare, is not always beautiful and decorative, Art Brut often takes time to be recognized and to find its niche of acceptance. This is what happened to Vitória Basaia. Had this artist been in contact with wider centers of appreciation, her work would not only have been accepted more quickly, but would have caused a sensation. Because she is first and foremost noted for her extreme creativity - an alchemist of form who needs little to give expression to her art.

  She produces, with incessant, almost compulsive breath, images that mirror her profound bond with the sources of femininity. Her capacity to draw elements from nothing, from the most ordinary things, with which she constructs her poetics, is reminiscent of the breath and skill in unveiling the new, of the already mentioned Eli Heil, an artist that few people in Brazil remember, but who built a solid international reputation through the art dealer Ceres Franco in Paris.

  I confess to being enchanted and attentive to the production of Vitória Basaia. I consider her together with Nilson Pimenta, Roberto de Almeida, and Alcides Pereira, who form today in Cuiabá one of the most representative artistic centers in Brazil ̶ and that I have the honor and the privilege of being able to represent and promote.

Faleceu em maio de 2024

 

Por: Galeria Brasiliana