Excerpt:
...In recent years, Arthur Bispo do Rosario has become
Brazil’s hottest art export. His work has been shown
in Venice, Stockholm, Paris, New York, and in venues
in Latin America. The art world has called him a conceptual
artist, pop artist, visionary artist, folk artist, and
even a psychotic artist. But these labels do not explain
the man or his work.
Bispo do Rosario always insisted that he was not an
artist, and that he had no choice in what he did.
To the outside world, he was a fabricator of visual
stories in three dimensions, real and imagined, sacred
and profane. He was a fastidious collector of throwaway
materials, from which he fashioned pieces that recall
the folk arts of his native region. Others resemble
African decorated graves, and the amulets and wrapped
healing charms of Congo cultures. Yet others reflect
his Christian faith. The many facets of his work and
their references to his background show that he was
a man firmly rooted in his culture.
Ship-bed (also known as Romeo
and Juliet’s bed), undated, bed: 192 x 78 x 78 cm,
curtain support: 210 x 56 cm, wood,. fabric, and grass
mattress, Bispo do Rosario Museum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
courtesy BrasilConnects, photo: Fernando Chavez.