For seLecT magazine, I wrote an essay about André Penteado for the Portfolio section.
I discussed his photographic series Cabanagem and Missão Francesa, highlighting how they address processes of social violence in contemporary Brazil, the importation of cultural models and the ways projects are interrupted and abandoned:
André Penteado is an artist who evokes lost traces. His territory is abandoned places, emotional losses and inexplicable interruptions. After graduating in public administration from Fundação Getulio Vargas in 1989, he studied social sciences at USP, left before completing the course and decided to devote himself to photography in 1993. For many years he worked exclusively commercially. His first artistic works coincided with the pain of his father’s death. These include the award-winning O Suicídio de Meu Pai (2007–2011), a photographic series ranging from the funeral to self-portraits wearing his father’s clothes, and Não Estou Sozinho (2009–2013), comprising, among other things, portraits of members of support groups for people who have lost family or friends to suicide.
Penteado lived in London from 2005 to 2012. On returning, he was galvanized by the June 2013 demonstrations. He embarked on a lengthy research process, which he organized as Rastros, Traços e Vestígios. Within its scope, he proposes reflecting on Brazil today through a photographic investigation into moments in our history before the invention of photography, or in places where photography had not yet arrived when the events occurred. “This allows me to avoid entering into dialogue with period iconography. I believe photography has the power to discuss history because it can construct narratives, whether visual or historiographical.” The first result of this investigation was the book Cabanagem (2015), followed by Missão Francesa (2017). Both were produced with support from incentive laws. Next will come Farroupilha, on which he is currently working, and Descobrimento e Independência.