Alex Cerveny (São Paulo SP 1963)
Alex Cerveny is a designer, engraver, sculptor, illustrator and painter. He studied drawing and painting with Valdir Sarubbi (1939–2000) and metal engraving with Selma Daffré (1951). In the early 1980s, he taught metal engraving at the Paço das Artes, at the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo (MAM/SP) and at the Oswald de Andrade Cultural Workshops, in São Paulo. From that period on, he began to produce drawings and watercolors with a strong narrative character and autobiographical references, linked to his previous experience as a circus artist. He worked as an illustrator in several books, such as Vejam Como Eu Sei Writer, by José Paulo Paes (Tática, 2001), and Pindorama, by Sandra Peres and Luiz Tatit (COSAC & NAIFY; PAINCA CANTADA, 2003), in addition to Collaborate with the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. He participated in the Barro Blanco studio, where he produced ceramic works.
In 2002, he was part of the Periferia São Paulo project as a teacher of bronze sculpture. He also acted in an educational project of the Vale do Rio Doce Foundation, giving culture workshops to teachers in cities in the interior of the North and Northeast regions. His most recent production as an illustrator was presented in the drawings of illustrations, held in 2005, at the Pinacoteca station, in São Paulo.
Critical Commentary
Alex Cerveny, since the 1980s, has produced drawings in which presents an intimate narrative. It is inspired by images of everyday life and in characters extracted from literature and also from the universe of mass culture. His work is full of personal references, such as his experience as a circus artist, present in the countless twisted and elastic figures constant in his drawings.
As the critic Marcelo Araújo notes, the naive images from comic books, mixed The figures of saints and angels are always in tension with the sophisticated textures of the watercolor and the elaborate architectural elements that structure the compositions. Biblical or mythological, crustaceans, towers and circus spaces. In them, inscriptions and graphics predominate, associated with the careful work with the dark light, as in the strongwater mercury (1986). Among his most recent works, there are still small sculptures, bringing to the three-dimensional figures that until then populated his graphic production.
Criticism
"In the 1980s we saw a new pictorial sensibility appear in Germany, Characterized by expressionist gestures that claimed an artist's subjectivity, sensuality and hedonism in the act of painting, as well as by quotes to the past. Balthus, showed in their work a need to talk about themselves, to value privacy.
In Brazil this resumption of figuration found, in the 1980s, the interest of artists such as Roberto Magalhães, Victor Arruda and, more recently, José Leonilson and Alex Cerveny. Unlike the 1980s, when the pleasure of painting resulted in extended gestures and large works, artists of the 1990s are more concerned with aspects of an intimate narrative and resume their role as a privileged support.
In the work of Alex Cerveny we noticed the narration as a process of metamorphosis. What counts is the transformation of one object into another. Watercolors, paintings and small bronze sculptures, far from being seized at once, invite the viewer to follow the artist's indications and look at their surfaces.
Images of the artist's daily life, icons of the television universe, models that reveal A predilection for tales by Lewis Carrol, Andersen or Brothers Grimm juxtaposes themselves in the same visual field. Animals, warriors and prophets, souls resurrecting in the valley of Josaphat and jets passing over apartment blocks coexist on the same screen and create an intricate allegory. References to a circus past of the artist who for a few years incarnated the character Elvis, the elastic man, are contained in the repetition of twisted figures - a mixture of pleasure and pain, adaptation and talent - and associated with other forms of art. Vignettes, frames - almost religious ornaments - require, due to the amount of details, a moment for contemplation and remind us of the illuminations of the Renaissance".
Cláudia Saldanha
Cerveny, Alex. Recent Works São Paulo: Valu Oria Art Gallery, 1999.
"Let's talk about pleasure! But you don't have to take the kids out of the room. What I'm calling a museum in motion is a possible model of the famous Epicurus garden. And the Epicurean pleasure is of - no matter how bad everything is - to build your garden, gather friends in it, exercise the ability to exist with a minimum of taste. Alex Cerveny is the city-man-type, like some happy Renaissances - or as was Venice, a city-state - a self-sufficient artist, with a bakery on the corner, 24-hour bench, mail: an epicurean gardener. Very few people would admit to having been influenced, at the same time, by a Chinese archeology show seen in London and Maria Martins, passing through the only Argentine artist, Xul Solar. Or translating: few artists do what they want and how they want, and tell them about it. They would say they were marked by Kabakov's retrospective, Sensation Show and Frieze's article on Hirst. Speaking like that would take better on the state of current power [that is, this semester] of the arts. Chinese art, Maria Martins and Xul Solar!? In a "Me Ne Frego" Alex Cerveny appears with small precious bronzes, a little jade's hand, a stone homunculus lying in a bronze crib, a little hand bleeding sealing, dishes of exaltation to male beauty with an almost anatomistic scabrous touch, Non-Pop paintings of pop people, and drawings full of skill, from a rabbit to a series of second-line historical figures. The list does not end and looks like a book of those that Prospero had on his island [Prospero being the greatest of all these island men], whose pages lead to other pages that illustrate other endless universes".
Luiz H. Horta
CERVENY, Alex. Alex Cerveny. Belo Horizonte: Celma Albuquerque Art Gallery, 2000.
Individual exhibitions
1982 - Belém PA - Individual, at Elf Gallery of Art
1983 - Belém PA - Drawings, at Elf Galeria de Arte
1986 - São Paulo SP - Drawings, at Pitanga do Amparo
1986 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Unit Dois
1987 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the Ateliê Alex Cerveny, Eide Feldon, Humberto Brasil and Luiz Hermano
1988 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Espaço Fogo Paulista
1990 - São Paulo SP - Individual, NA Galeria Paulo Figueiredo
1990 - Freiburg (Germany) - Individual, at Galerie Ruta Correa
1992 - Marbach (Germany) - Individual, at Galerie Felhauer
1993 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the Paulo Figueiredo Gallery
1993 - Paris (France) - Individual, at the Cultural Space of the Brazilian Embassy
1993 - New York (United States) - Individual, at LEDISFLAM Gallery
1993 - Arnhem (Netherlands) - Individual, at Galerie 20 x 2
1994 - Miami (United States) - Individual, at Bianca Lanza Gallery
1994 - São Paulo SP - Figures, at Itaugaleria
1996 - Freiburg (Germany) - Individual, at Galerie Ruta Correa
1996 - Belo Horizonte MG - Individual, at Casa Cambuquira
1996 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Valu Oria Galeira de Arte
1997 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Joel Edelstein Contemporary Art
1997 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at the Sérgio Porto Gallery
1999 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the Valu Oria Art Gallery
1999 - São Paulo SP - lithographs, at the CCSP
1999 - Freiburg (Germany) - individual, Ruta Correa Galerie
1999 - Curitiba PR - Individual, at Casa da Imagem
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Lithographies, at the Ibeu Art Gallery
2000 - Belo Horizonte MG - Individual, at Celma Albuquerque Art Gallery
2000 - Piracicaba SP - Individual, No Marilu Art Space
2000 - São José dos Campos SP - Engravings, Na De Etser
2000 - São Paulo SP - New acquisitions, at the CCSP
2002 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the Casa Triângulo gallery
2003 - Piracicaba SP - Daily life, at the Dr. Losso Netto Municipal Theater
2003 - Barra Mansa RJ - Individual, at the UBM Art Gallery
2005 - Freiburg (Germany) - 15 Jahre, at the Ruta Corrêa Gallery
2005 - São Paulo SP - Illustration drawing, at the station Pinacoteca
2007 - São Paulo SP - Playlist, at Casa Triângulo
2009 - São Paulo SP - Paraguay and other paintings, at Casa Triângulo
2011 - Brasília DF - Playlist, in the Reference Galeria de Art
2011 - Ribeirão Preto SP - Individual, at Adearte Galeria
2011 - São Paulo - Travel Notebooks, at Casa Triângulo
Collective exhibitions
1982 - Belo Horizonte MG - 14th National Art Salon, at MAP
1982 - Curitiba PR - 5th Annual Engraving Exhibition City of Curitiba, at Casa da Engraving Solar do Barão
1982 - Piracicaba SP - 15th Art Salon Contemporary of Piracicaba
1982 - Santos SP - 10th Young Art Salon, at CCBEU
1982 - São Bernardo do Campo SP - 1st Salon of Brand New Artists
1982 - São Paulo SP - 1st Salão Paulista de Arte Contemporânea, at Fundação Bienal
1983 - Santos SP - 11th Youth Art Salon, at CCBEU
1984 - Piracicaba SP - 16th Contemporary Art Salon
1984 - Santo André SP - 12th Salon of Contemporary Art of Santo André, at the Municipal Palace
1984 - São Paulo SP - 2nd São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon, at the Bienal Foundation
1984 - São Paulo SP - 2nd Salão Paulista of Contemporary Art, at MIS/SP
1985 - Curitiba PR - 42nd Salão Paranaense, at MAC Curitiba
1985 - Santo André SP - 13th Salão de Arte Contemporânea de Santo André, at the Municipal Palace
1985 - São Paulo SP - 3rd Salão Paulista de Arte Contemporânea, at Fundação Bienal
1985 - São Paulo SP - Arte Jovem/Art Magazine in São Paulo, at the São Paulo Art Gallery
1986 - Curitiba PR - 7th Mostra da Engraving Cidade de Curitiba, At Casa da Engravura Solar do Barão - Curitiba City Grand Prize
1986 - São Paulo SP - Engraving Workshops: A Panorama Paulistano, at CCSP
1986 - São Paulo SP - 4th São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon, at the Biennial
1986 - São Paulo SP - Drawing, engraving and painting, at Paço das Artes
1987 - Belém PA - Elf'87, at Elf Art Gallery
1987 - Curitiba PR - Recordings Paulistanas, at Solar do Barão
1987 - Curitiba PR - Homage to engraving: Exhibition of the awardees, at Galeria Arte Corrêa
1987 - São Paulo SP - 18th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, in the MAM/SP
1987 - São Paulo SP - 5th São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon, at the Pinacoteca do Estado
1987 - São Paulo SP - Mysterious creature, at the Yázigi Cultural Space
1987 - São Paulo SP - Bazar 13, at the Papier Gallery
1987 - São Paulo SP - First class culture, at La Maison
1987 - São Paulo SP - Open Atelier Circuit
1988 - Puerto Rico - Bienal da Latin American engraving
1988 - São Paulo SP - 1st National Watercolor Salon of FASM, at Faculdade Santa Marcelina
1988 - São Paulo SP - 6th São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon - Credicard Award
1988 - São Paulo SP - Juréia, at Sadalla Galeria de Arte  
1989 - Brasília DF - New values of Latin American/Brazil art, at the Museum of Art in Brasília
1989 - New York (States) United States) - Dyomedes Project, on PS1
1989 - São Paulo SP - Artists, at MAM/SP
1989 - São Paulo SP - 15 artists, at Our Choice Art Gallery
1990 - Amateur (Portugal) - 2nd International Engraving Biennial
1990 - Curitiba PR - 9th Engraving Exhibition City of Curitiba, at the Engraving Museum
1990 - São Paulo SP - 21st Panorama of Current Art Brazilian, at MAM/SP
1990 - São Paulo SP - 9 artists, at Adriana Penteado Contemporâneo
1990 - São Paulo SP - Art Engraving Today, at Paço das Artes
1991 - Stockholm (Sweden) - Viva Brasil Viva, at Liljevalchs Konsthall
1991 - São Paulo SP - 21st São Paulo International Biennial, at the Bienal Foundation - State Secretariat for Culture Award
1992 - Curitiba PR - 10th Engraving Exhibition City of Curitiba/Mostra América, at the Engraving Museum
1992 - Curitiba PR - Highlight of the engraving shows, at the Engraving Museum
1992 - Piracicaba SP - 24th Salon of Contemporary Art of Piracicaba
1992 - São Paulo SP - Highlights of the Engraving Shows, at MAC/USP1993 - São Caetano do Sul SP - Municipal Arts Workshop: 30 artists
1993 - Chicago (United States) - Chicago International Art Exposition
1993 - Dusseldorf (Germany) - Art Multiple, at Andres Art Gallery
1993 - New York (United States) - Contemporary Art from Brazil, at Ledisflam Gallery
1993 - São Paulo SP - Metal engraving, at Atelier Paulista
1994 - Albuquerque (United States) - Two Brazilian Printmakers, at New Mexico University Museum
1994 - Curitiba PR - Tamarind Project, at the Engraving Museum
1994 - Miami (United States) - Art Miami
1994 - São Paulo SP - Others Territories: Crossing through sexuality, at MIS
1994 - São Paulo SP - Bienal Brasil Século 20th, at the Bienal Foundation
1994 - São Paulo SP - Marinhas, at the Nara Roesler Gallery
1994 - São Paulo SP - Poetics of Resistance: Aspects of Brazilian Engraving, at the SESI Art Gallery
1994 - Washington DC (United States) - Arts of the Americas, at the University Museum
1995 - Porto Alegre RS - Project Tamarind, at Atelier Livre
1995 - Recife PE - Tamarind Project, at the Bandepe Cultural Space
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Tamarind Project, at EAV/Parque Laje
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 24th Panorama of Brazilian Art, at MAM/RJ 
1995 - São Paulo SP - 24th Panorama of Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP - Price Waterhouse of the Brazil
1995 - São Paulo SP - 40 years of drawing in São Paulo, at Galeria Nara Roesler
1995 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian art for coloring, at Masp
1995 - São Paulo SP - Artists collectors, at Valu Oria Art Gallery
1995 - São Paulo SP - Collective 34, at Adriana Penteado Contemporâneo
1995 - São Paulo SP - Projeto Contacto, at Galeria Sesc Paulista
1995 - São Paulo SP - Tamarind Project, at the Bienal Foundation
1996 - Freiburg (Germany) - Art Frankfurt, at the Ruta Corrêa Gallery
1996 - Milan (Italy) - 2nd Basile Fà Anche Design, at Pallazzo Realle
1996 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Unity and Contemporaneity, at the Correios Cultural Space
1996 - São Paulo SP - The only, the same, the a-fundament, in the Valuory Gallery of Art
1996 - São José dos Campos SP - Life Partners Against AIDS, at SESC
1997 - Curitiba PR - The Contemporary Art of Engraving, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of Curitiba
1997 - Curitiba PR - A last figuration, Galeria Casa da Imagem
1997 - Irving (United States) - Contemporary Brazilian Prints, at the University of Dallas
1997 - São Paulo SP - Paulo Figueiredo Collection in the collection of MAM, at MAM/SP
1998 - Belo Horizonte MG - The support of the word, at Itaú Cultural
1998 - Cuenca (Ecuador) - 6th International Biennale of Cuenca
1998 - Marília SP - 5 dashes, na cimino & Scheibel
1998 - Oaxaca (Mexico) - El Arte de los Libros by Artist, at the Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca
1998 - São Paulo SP - Multiples, at Valu Oria Galeria de Art
1998 - São Paulo SP - The Collector, at MAM/SP
1998 - São Paulo SP - The Support of the Word, at MAM/SP
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The image of the sound of Chico Buarque, at Paço Imperial
1999 - São Paulo SP - Nineteen Cabeças, at Adriana Penteado Contemporânea
1999 - São Paulo SP - Lithography: Fidelity and Memory, in the Unicid Arts Space
1999 - São Paulo SP - Lithographies, at CCSP
2000 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - La Imagen del Sonido de Chico Buarque, at the Fundación de Estudos Brasileños
2000 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - La Imagen del Sonido de Chico Buarque, at the Borges Cultural Center
2000 - Freiburg (Germany) - Art Frankfurt, at the Ruta Gallery Corrêa
2000 - João Pessoa PB - Extremos 2000, at the Centro Cultural de São Francisco
2000 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The image of the sound of Gilberto Gil, in the Paço Imperial
2000 - Rio de January RJ - O Private, at Centro Cultural Cândido Mendes
2000 - São Paulo SP - 80 Engravings in Metal, at the Banespa Cultural Space
2000 - São Paulo SP - Kibonart Show
2000 - São Paulo SP - Barro Blanco, at the Francine Gallery
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian ceramics: construction of a language, in the Brazilian center British
2001 - Freiburg (Germany) - 20 Jahre, at the Ruta Corrêa Gallery
2001 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The image of the sound of Antônio Carlos Jobim, at Paço Imperial
2001 - São Paulo SP - Donation Paulo Figueiredo, at MAM
2002 - Juiz de Fora MG - Interacidade, at Fundação Cultural Alfredo Ferreira Laje
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The image of the sound of rock pop Brasil, at Paço Imperial
2002 - São Paulo SP - Paralela, in the shed located on Avenida Matarazzo, 530
2003 - Brasília DF - Drawing: Trace and Space, at the Contemporary Cultural Space Venâncio  
2003 - Rio Claro SP - Interacidade, at the Roberto Palmari Cultural Center
2003 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - BrazilianArt Project, at Almacén Art Gallery
2003 - São Paulo SP - Casa Triângulo, at Casa Triângulo  
2003 - São Paulo SP - My friends, at MAM/SP
2003 - São Paulo SP - Weaving the Invisible, at Instituto Tomie Ohtake
2004 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Alex Cerveny and Hilal Sami Hilal
2004 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - General Archive: Contemporary Art in the Botanical Garden, in the Shed Archive General
2004 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - New Acquisitions 2003: Gilberto Chateubriand Collection, at MAM/RJ
2004 - São Paulo SP - Contemporary Art at the Municipal Collection, at CCSP  
2004 - São Paulo SP - Paper Office, at CCSP
2004 - São Paulo SP - Mickey, at Praça do Banco Real Paulista
2004 - São Paulo SP - New Talents Chamex, at Instituto Tomie Ohtake
2005 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The image of the sound of Dorival Caymmi, at Paço Imperial
2005 - São Bernardo do Campo SP - Pinacoteca: 25 years old, at the City Hall of São Bernardo do Campo
2005 - São Paulo SP - Panorama of Brazilian Engraving, at the Valuria Art Gallery
2006 - Bielefeld (Germany) - Nasca Korrespondenzen, at ZIF
2006 - Miami (United States) - Art Basel Miami Beach
2006 - Ottersweier (Germany) - Aktuelle Kunst Aus Sudamerika, at the Galerie e&e
2006 - São Paulo SP - The image of the sound of Dorival Caymmi, at the Afro-Brasil Museum
2006 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art Show, in the pavilion Ciccilio Matarazzo
2006 - São Paulo SP - Clube da Gravura: 20 years old, at MAM
2006 - São Paulo SP - Untitled press conference, at MAM
2006 - São Paulo SP - Itaú Collection Contemporary: Art in Brazil 1981-2006, at Itaú Cultural
2007 - Belém PA - Collective of Engravings, at Elf Galeria de Arte
2007 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Feria de Arte Contemporanea
2007 - São Paulo SP - 80/90 modern, postmodern, etc., at the Tomie Ohtake Institute
2007 - São Paulo SP - Contemporary Itaú Collection, at Itaú Cultural
2007 - São Paulo SP - Cartoon Office, at MAM
2007 - São Paulo SP - Intimacies: Dangerous Games, at Marília Razuk Art Gallery
2007 - São Paulo SP - Oscar Niemeyer 100 years old: A look at the artist, at the Latin America Memorial
2007 - São Paulo SP - Dishes, at ACTC
2008 - London (England) - The Paper Trail: 15 Brazilian Artists, at Allsopp Contemporary
2008 - Miami (United States) - Art Basel Miami Beach
2008 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - General Archive, at the Electoral Justice Cultural Center
2008 - São Caetano do Sul SP - International Watercolor, at the Municipal Pinacoteca
2008 - São Paulo SP - Contemporary Art: recent acquisitions of the Pinacoteca collection, at Pinacoteca Station
2008 - São Paulo SP - Art for the Amazon: Art and Attitude, at the Foundation Bienal
2008 - São Paulo SP - Embroidering Art, at the Pinacoteca do Estado
2008 - São Paulo SP - Corresponds Nasca, at Galeria Marta Traba
2008 - São Paulo SP - Panorama dos Panoramas, at MAM
2009 - Salvador BA - Drawings Office: Works from the MAM/SP Collection, at Caixa Cultural
2009 - Hildesheim (Germany) - Nasca Korrespondenzen, at Roemer und Pelizaeus Museum
2009 - Postdam (Germany) - Kunst-Buch-Raum at Alexander von Humbolt Buchlandlung
2009 - Rotterburg am der Wümme (Germany) - Nasca Korrespondenzen, at Kunstturm
2009 - São Paulo SP - 40th Chapel Art Show, at Chapel School
2009 - São Paulo SP - Branco & Preto, at Galeria Daslu
2009 - São Paulo SP - Memorial revisited: 20 years, at the Latin America Memorial
2009 - São Paulo SP - NUS, at the Fortes Vilaça/Bergamin Gallery
2010 - Piracicaba SP - Bienal Naifs do Brasil, at Sesc
2010 - São Paulo SP - 6th SP-Arte, at Fundação Bienal
2010 - São Paulo SP - 41st Chapel Art Show, at Chapel School
2010 - São Paulo SP - Editions, at Casa Triângulo
2010 - São Paulo SP - Contemporary Art Fair, at Gioconda's house
2010 - São Paulo SP - Puras Mixtures, in the Eng. Armando Arruda Pereira Pavilion
2011 - Belém PA - Images that populate the dream, at the ELF Art Gallery
2011 - Ribeirão Preto SP - Objects for art, in the marp
2011 - São Paulo SP - 7th SP-Arte, at Fundação Bienal
2011 - São Paulo SP - 42nd Chapel Art Show, at Chapel School
2012 - Hannover (Germany) - 60 Sekunden, at Kultur in Schloss Landestrost
2012 - San Juan (Porto Rico) - Poly-graphic Triennale of San Juan
2012 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian engraving in the collection of Pinacoteca, at Pinacoteca Station
Source: Itaú Cultural
