Mario Cravo Neto (Salvador BA 1947 - Idem 2009)
Mario Cravo Neto was a photographer, sculptor and draftsman. He received the first guidelines in drawing and sculpture from his father, Mario Cravo Júnior. In 1964, he traveled to Berlin accompanying his father, who participated in the Artists on Residence program, sponsored by the Ford Foundation. In the city, he had contact with the Italian artist Emilio Vedova and the photographer Max Jakob. In 1968, he moved to New York and studied at the Arts Students League, under the guidance of Jack Krueger, one of the precursors of concept art in the city. During this period, he made the series of photographs in colors on the subway and produced his first acrylic sculptures. He returned to Brazil in 1970. In 1975, he suffered a car accident and interrupted his professional activity for a year. He later dedicated himself to studio photography, created installations and developed photographic works with a theme related to Candomblé and Catholic religiosity. Laróyè (2000), on Earth Under My Feet (2003) and The Dahomey Tiger - The Snake of Whydah (2004). He received the National Photography Award from the National Art Foundation – Funarte, in 1996; the Price Waterhouse Award, in the Panorama of Brazilian Art of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo – MAM/SP, in 1997; and the award for Best Photographer of the Year of the São Paulo Association of Art Critics – APCA, in 1980, 1995 and 2005.
Critical Comment
Mario Cravo Neto works more frequently on photography in black and white. As the scholar Rubens Fernandes Júnior points out, his photographs reveal acuity in the photographic description, evoking the inheritance left by the previous work with sculpture. In his works, he uses low lights, closed framing and critical focus, which dimensioning volumes and exploring the different textures, highlights the first objective of each photo. The tactile sensation is another interesting aspect of his work, highlighted by the games of light and shadow.
His photograph moves through the religious and mystical imagination, mainly from Catholic religiosity and Candomblé. For Fernandes Júnior, there is a direct relationship between the work of Cravo Neto and that of the photographer and ethnographer Pierre Verger, mainly when addressing the spiritual possession of the body. To compose the ex-voto series, the photographer uses votive sculptures in carved wood, currently gathered at the Gregório de Mattos Foundation, in Salvador. The photographs in the series reveal a great sensitivity in the use of light, in order to enhance the planes, carvings and reliefs of the pieces.
Frequently focuses on fragments of the human body in their work and sometimes associates them with objects, such as balls or stones, or to animals, which gives the image an air of estrangement and, sometimes, a ritualistic character. His work, as emphasized by the critic Casimiro Xavier de Mendonça, is neither narrative nor documentary nor anthropological. It is the support for a visual investment that seeks to accentuate the relationship between man and the unknown based on the establishment of unexpected relationships, especially in the opposition between objects and bodies. An infinite background, even if it worked with unusual angles of the human body - which was also done by other artists - its mark managed to be unmistakable and individual. First, there is a respect for the human being that gains a sacred space and is not seen only as an object of seduction. It also makes the recovery of a collective memory, when it gives simple and everyday people the lost dignity and the pleasure of self-representation. and by the way of dose light and shadow. (...)"
Casimiro Xavier de Mendonça
CRAVO NETO, Mário. Mario Cravo Neto. Salvador: ADA Art Gallery, 1991. p. 36.
"Each image, carefully and consciously produced, comes from a complex game that develops between the mimesis of the body that experiences and represents, with the explicit inheritance of cultural experiences. an assumed aesthetic concept, where the fundamental is tension and restlessness, perceived in the constitutive paradigms of his photograph. He believes that all creative work has a mystical background, that is, a relationship between man and the unknown, with the imponderable, with the Unpredictable. The photographs show the diversity of the artist who defined himself in the face of a multiplicity of influences. It is the memoirist photographer who tries to preserve the sense of mystical revelation through the allegories of rituals. (...)"
Rubens Fernandes Junior
FERNANDES JUNIOR, Rubens. The photograph by Mario Cravo Neto is the pure force. 1995. P. 5.
Fixes
Museet for Fotokunst - Odense (Denmark)
Museum of Fine Arts, The Allan Chasanoff Photographic Collection - Houston (United States)
Museum of Photographic Arts - San Diego (United States)
Princeton Art Museum - Princeton (United States)
MASP - São Paulo SP
Stedelijk Museum - Amsterdam (Holland)
Suomen Valokuvataiteen Museo - Helsinki (Finland)
Museum of Modern Art - New York (United States)
Hasselblad Collection - Gothenburg (Sweden)
Brooklyn Museum - New York (United States)
Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics, Center of Photography - Tokyo (Japan)
DG Bank - Frankfurt (Germany)
Patricia Philips de Cisneros Collection - Caracas (Venezuela)
MAC/USP - São Paulo SP
MAM/RJ - Rio de Janeiro RJ
MAM/BA - Salvador Ba
Museum voor photography - Antwerp (Belgium)
MAM/SP - São Paulo SP
Individual exhibitions
1965 - Salvador BA - Individual, at Galeria Convivium
1971 - Salvador BA - Individual, at MAM/BA
1971 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Documenta
1972 - Paris (France) - Individual, at L'Espace Pierre Cardin
1972 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Galeria Grupo B
1972 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Documenta
1973 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Documenta
1974 - São Paulo SP - Individual, in A Galeria
1976 - Munich (Germany) - Individual, at Modern Art Galerie
1977 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the multiple art gallery
1980 - Milan (Italy) - Individual, at Galleria II Diaphragm/Canon
1980 - São Paulo - Individual, in the photo gallery
1981 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Monica Filgueiras
1981 - São Paulo SP - The neutral background and my characters, in the FotoPtica gallery
1981 - Turin (Italy) - Individual, at Galleria La Parisina
1982 - Washington (United States) - Individual, at the Brazilian American Cultural Institute
1983 - Brasília DF - Individual, at the ECT Art Gallery
1983 - Estoril (Portugal) - Individual, at Casino Estoril
1983 - Milan (Italy) - Individual, in Galleria II Diaphragm/Canon
1983 - São Paulo SP - Individual, At Arco Art Contemporânea
1983 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at MASP
1984 - Chiasso (Switzerland) - Individual, at Galerie Fotografia Oltre
1984 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, MAM/RJ
1985 - Milan (Italy) - IF, at Immagine Fotografica
1985 - Seattle (United States) - Individual, at Yuen Lui Gallery
1986 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Arco Art Contemporânea
1987 - Copenhagen (Denmark) - Individual, at Billedhusets Galleri
1987 - San Francisco (United States) - Individual, at the Vision Gallery
1988 - Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Het Portret, at the Canon Image Center
1988 - Helsinki (Finland) - Individual, at Suomen Valokuvataiteen Museo
1988 - Venice (Italy) - Individual, at Pallazo Fortuny
1989 - Colonel (Mexico) - Individual, at La Galeria Kahlo
1989 - Salvador BA - Individual, at the Galeria O Easel
1989 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Contemporary Art Arch
1990 - Amsterdam (Holland) - Individual, at the Canon Image Center
1990 - Berlin (Germany) - Individual at Galerie Springer
1991 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Individual, at Galeria del Teatro General San Martín
1991 - New York (United States) - 13 photographers, at Wikin Gallery
1991 - Salvador BA - Individual, at ADA Gallery
1992 - Houston (United States) - Individual, at Houston FotoFest
1992 - Lisbon (Portugal) - Individual, at the Module Gallery
1992 - Los Angeles (United States) - Individual, At Fahley/Klein Gallery
1993 - Los Angeles (United States) - Individual, at Fisher Gallery
1993 - San Francisco (United States) - Individual, at Vision Gallery
1993 - Washington (United States) - Individual, at the Kathleen Ewing Gallery
1994 - Costa Mesa (United States) - Individual, at Susan Spiritus Gallery
1994 - Frankfurt (Germany) - Individual, at Frankfurter Kunstverein
1994 - Madrid (Spain) - Canto a la Realidad, in the House of America
1994 - New York (United States) - Individual, at The Witkin Gallery
1994 - San Diego (United States) - Individual, at the Museum of Photographic Art
1995 - Chicago (United States) - Individual, at the Catherine Edelman Gallery
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at MAM/RJ
1995 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at MASP
1995 - Stein (Austria) - Individual, Kunstverein Steyr
1996 - Boräs (Sweden) - Individual, at Boräs Kunstmuseet
1996 - Braunschweig (Germany) - Individual, at the Museum für Photographie
1996 - Curitiba PR - Individual, at Solar do Barão
1996 - Uddevalla (Sweden) - Individual, at Bohusläns Museum
1997 - New York (United States) - Individual, The Witkin Gallery
1997 - Oldenburg (Germany) - Individual, Oldenburger Kunstverein
1997 - Scottsdale (United States) - Individual at Bentley Gallery
1998 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Individual, at the Recoleta Cultural Center
1998 - Los Angeles (United States) - Individual, at Fahey/Klein Gallery
1998 - Madrid (Spain) - Individual, at Photo España 98
1998 - Paris (France) - Individual, at Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
1998 - Salvador BA - Individual, at the Pierre Verger Gallery
1999 - Barcelona (Spain) - Individual, at the S-292 Gallery
1999 - Houston (United States) - Individual, at Sicardi Sanders Gallery
1999 - Salamanca (Spain) - Individual, at the Photography Center of the Universidad de Salamanca
1999 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Espaço Neogama
1999 - Valencia (Spain) - Individual, in the Visor Gallery
2000 - Cartagena (Spain) - Individual, at the Palacio de Aguirre
2000 - Hillerød (Denmark) - Individual, at the Nationalhistoriske Museum På Frederiksborg
2000 - New York (States) United States) - Individual, at Yancey Richardson Gallery
2000 - Salvador BA - Individual, at MAM/BA
2000 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the Pinacoteca do Estado
2000 - São Paulo SP - Individual, In the Multiple Gallery of Art
2001 - Madrid (Spain) - Individual, at the Buades Gallery
2002 - Brasília DF - Individual, in the contemporary cultural space Venâncio
2002 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Millan - Rua Fradique Coutinho
2003 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Centro Cultural Correios
2003 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil
2004 - Salvador BA - Individual, at Paulo Darzé Arte Galeria
2005 - Salvador BA - The Tiger of the Dahomey_The Snake of Whydah, in Paulo Darzé Galeria of Art
2006 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, in Art 21 Galeria
2007 - Porto Alegre RS - Individual, in the Porto Alegre Art Scholarship
2008 - Salvador BA - A Arrow at rest, at Paulo Darzé Art Gallery
Collective exhibitions
1966 - Salvador BA - 1st National Biennial of Fine Arts
1970 - Washington (United States) - Fourteen Latin American Painters, at Andres Bello Auditorium
1971 - Campinas SP - 7th Campinas Contemporary Art Salon
1971 - São Paulo SP - 11th São Paulo International Biennial, at the Bienal Foundation - Prize Governor of the State
1971 - São Paulo SP - 5th Youth Art Contemporary Exhibition, at MAC/USP
1972 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Art Systems in Latin America, at the Centro de Arte y Comunicación
1972 - Ferrara (Italy) - Art Systems in Latin America, at the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna
1972 - London (England) - Art Systems in Latin America, at the Institute of Contemporary Art
1972 - Paris (France) - Art Systems in Latin America, at the L'Espace Pierre Cardin
1972 - São Paulo SP - Art/Brazil/Today: 50 years later, at Galeria Collectio
1972 - São Paulo SP - Sesquicentennial Art Exhibition of Independence and Plastic Brazil - 72, at Fundação Bienal
1972 - São Paulo SP - Multiples Brasileiros, at the Multiple Art Gallery
1972 - São Paulo SP - 4th Panorama de Arte Current Brazilian, at MAM/SP
1973 - São Paulo SP - 12th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1973 - São Paulo SP - Expo-Projection 73, at Espaço Griffe
1975 - Salvador BA - Feira da Bahia
1975 - São Paulo SP - 7th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1976 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Arte Agora I, at MAM/RJ
1976 - São Paulo SP - National Biennial 76, at the Bienal Foundation
1977 - São Paulo SP - 14th São Paulo International Biennial, at the Bienal Foundation
1978 - Mexico City (Mexico) - Subteranean Art, Architecture and Objects, at the Huan Martin Gallery and at the Museo Carrillo Gil
1978 - São Paulo SP - 10th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1978 - São Paulo SP - 1st Exhibition of the Mobile and the Unusual Object, at the Paço das Artes
1979 - São Paulo SP - Mario Cravo Neto and Pierre Verger, at Masp
1979 - Salvador BA - Mario Cravo Neto and Pierre Verger, at Maba
1979 - São Paulo SP - 15th São Paulo International Biennial, at the Bienal Foundation
1980 - Milan (Italy) - Salone Internazionale della Cinematography, Ottica and Photography
1981 - Berlin (Germany) and Zurich (Switzerland) - photographs Lateinamerika, at Akademie der Künste and at Kunsthaus Zürich
1981 - São Paulo SP - 13th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1982 - Caserta (Italy) - Biennale Internazionale Di Photography
1982 - London (England) - Brazilian Photography, Six Contemporaries, at The Photographer's Gallery
1982 - Paris (France) - Brésil des Brésiliens, with Stefania Bril, at the Center Georges Pompidou 1983 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - O Tempo do Olhar - Panorama of current Brazilian photography, at MNBA
1983 - São Paulo SP - 17th São Paulo International Biennial, at the Biennial Foundation
1983 - São Paulo SP - O Tempo do Olhar - Panorama of current Brazilian photography, at MASP
1984 - Genoa (Italy) - Fotoamerica/84, Objettivi Sulll'America Latina
1984 - Paris (France) - Body and Alma, Espace Latino-Americain, Mois de la Photo
1984 - São Paulo SP - Tradition and rupture: Brazilian art and culture synthesis, at the Bienal Foundation
1985 - Madrid (Spain) - 50 years of color, at the Circulo de Bellas Artes
1985 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 8th National Salon of Plastic Arts, at MAM/RJ
1985 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Art and its materials: contemporary attitudes, in Funarte. Sérgio Millet Gallery
1985 - São Paulo SP - 16th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1985 - São Paulo SP - 1st Quadrennial of Photography, at MAM/SP
1986 - Brasília DF - Baianos in Brasília, at Casa da Manchete
1986 - Portovenere (Italy) - Object Man
1987 - São Paulo SP - The plot of taste: another look at everyday life, at the Bienal Foundation
1988 - Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Het Portret, at the Canon Image Center
1988 - Friborg (Switzerland) - Triennalle Internationale de la Photographie - Mois de la photo: Splendeurs et misères du corps, at the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Friborg
1988 - Havana (Cuba) - 2nd Havana Biennial
1988 - Long Island (United States) - Brazil Projects, at The Institute for Art and Urban Resources
1988 - New York (United States) - Brazil Projects
1988 - Paris (France) - Triennalle Internationale de la Photographie - Mois de la Photo: Splendeurs et misères du Corps, at the Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
1989 - Antwerp (Belgium) Réalités Magiques, Photographie Latino-Américaine Contemporaine, at the Museum Voor photography
1990 - Rotterdam (Netherlands) - 2nd photographie Biennale Rotterdam: OP Position
1990 - Vienna (Austria) - von der Natur in der Kunst, Messepalast
1991 - Arles (France) - Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie
1991 - New York (United States) - 13 photographers, at The Witkin Gallery
1991 - São Paulo SP - 1st Pirelli Collection/Masp of Photographs, at Masp
1992 - Bogotá (Colombia) - Arte America, at the Luis Angel Library
1992 - Cali (Colombia) - Encuentro de los Mundos, at the Tertúlia Art Museum
1992 - Curitiba PR - 10th Mostra of the engraving city of Curitiba/Mostra América, at the Engraving Museum
1992 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Art Amazonas, at MAM/RJ
1992 - Vigo (Spain) - Latin America, 5th photobienal of Vigo
1992 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Brasilien: Entdeckung und selbstendeckung, at Kunsthaus Zürich
1993 - Los Angeles (United States) - Body to Earth, at Fischer Gallery
1994 - Belém PA - 13th Salão Arte Pará, at the Romulo Maiorana Foundation
1994 - Brasília DF - reviewing Brasília, at Teatro Nacional. Galeria Athos Bulcão
1994 - Caracas (Venezuela) - Romper Los Margenes, Encuentro de Fotografía Latino-Americano, at the Museum of Visual Arts Alexandro Otero
1994 - Curitiba PR - Reviewing Brasília, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
1994 - Houston (United States) - The Eyes Have It, at The Museum of Fine Arts
1994 - London (England) - Hidden View: images of Bahia, Brazil, at the Concourse Gallery
1994 - Madrid (Spain) - Canto a la Realidad, at Casa de América
1994 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - reviewing Brasília, at the Palace Gustavo Capanema
1994 - San Francisco (United States) - Contemporary Brazilian Photography: a selection of photographs from the collection of Joaquim Paiva, at the Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Gardens
1994 - São Paulo SP - Bienal Brasil Century 20th Century, at the Fundação Bienal
1994 - São Paulo SP - 4th Pirelli Collection/Masp of Photographs, at Masp
1994 - São Paulo SP - Revising Brasília, at MIS/SP
1995 - Lausanne (Switzerland) - Rio: Mysteries and Frontiers, in the Musée de Pully
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Contemporary Brazilian photography, in the CCBB
1996 - Bogotá (Colombia) - Images of Brazil. Pirelli/Masp Photo Collection, at Casa do Brasil
1996 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Imagenes de Brasil. Pirelli/Masp Photography Collection, at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
1996 - Caracas (Venezuela) - Images from Brazil. Pirelli/Masp Collection of Photographs, at the Contemporary Art Museo of Caracas Sofía Imber
1996 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Rio: Mysteries and Frontiers, at MAM/RJ
1996 - Sweden and Austria - Collectives, at Boras Kunstmuseet and at the Bohusläns Museum
1997 - Berlin (Germany) - Die Anderen Modernen, Haus der Kulturen der Welt
1997 - New York (United States) - Hope Photographs, at the National Arts Club
1997 - São Paulo SP - 25th Panorama of Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1997 - São Paulo SP - Intervals, at Paço das Artes
1997 - São Paulo SP - 3rd United Artists: Luz, at Casa das Rosas
1998 - Houston (United States) - Contemporary Brazilian Photography from the Joaquin Paiva Collection, Pan American Cultural Exchange
1998 - Houston (United States) - Years Ending in Nine, at The Museum of Fine Arts
1998 - Innsbruck (Austria) - The Bird of Self-Knowledge, at the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum Innsbruck
1998 - Niterói RJ - 25th Panorama of Brazilian Art, in the MAC/Niterói
1998 - New York (United States) - Male, Wessel + O'Connor Gallery
1998 - New York (United States) - Sur La Tête, at The Witkin Gallery
1998 - Recife PE - 25th Panorama of Brazilian Art, at MAMAM
1998 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The image of the sound of Caetano Veloso, in the Paço Imperial
1998 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian art in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo: recent donations 1996 - 1998, at CCBB
1998 - Salvador BA - 25th Panorama of Brazilian Art, at MAM/BA
1998 - São Paulo SP - Cohntemporânea, at the Thomas Cohn Gallery
1998 - São Paulo SP - Multiples, at the Valu Oria Art Gallery
1998 - Tokyo (Japan) - The Promise of photography: The DG Bank Collection, at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
1999 - Hannover (Germany) - The Promise of Photography: The DG Bank Collection, Kestner-Gesellschaft
1999 - Paris (France) - The Promise of Photography: The DG Bank Collection, at the Center National de la Photographie
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The image of the sound of Chico Buarque, at Paço Imperial
1999 - São Paulo SP - Photographers and Photoartists in the MAM/SP collection, at Espaço Seguro Photography of Modern Art in São Paulo: Brazilian contemporary photography, at the Porto Seguro Photography Space
1999 - São Paulo SP - photo99@thomascohn.br, at the Thomas Cohn Gallery
1999 - Wolfsburg (Germany) - Brasilianische photograph 1946 bis 1998, at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
2000 - Berlin (Germany) - The Promise of Photography: The DG Bank Collection, Akademie der Künste
2000 - Curitiba PR - 12th Exhibition of the Engraving of Curitiba. Body marks, Folds of the soul
2000 - La Paz (Bolivia) - Photography Brasileña Contemporánea, at the National Art Museo
2000 - Lion (France) - 5ème Biennale de Lyon: Partage d'Exotismes
2000 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brasilidades, at Centro Cultural Light
2000 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Situations: Brazilian Arts 70s, at Fundação Casa França-Brasil
2000 - Salvador BA - The stillness of the earth: everyday life, contemporary art and axé project, at MAM/BA
2000 - São Paulo SP - Ars Erotica: sex and eroticism in Brazilian art, at MAM/SP
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition, at Fundação Bienal
2000 - São Paulo SP - Dialogue: Contemporary Art Brazil/Ecuador, at Galeria Marta Traba, at the Latin America Memorial
2001 - Frankfurt (Germany) - The Promise of Photography: The DG Bank Collection at Kunsthalle
2001 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art Museum: 40 years MAB/FAAP
2001 - São Paulo SP - Trajectory of light in Brazilian art, at Itaú Cultural
2002 - Brasília DF - Fragments to its magnet, in the contemporary cultural space Venâncio
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Walking with Faith..., at Galeria Sesc Copacabana
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Artephoto, at CCBB
2002 - São Paulo SP stock photos of the MAM/SP
2002 - São Paulo SP - The genres of art: still life in contemporary art, at MAM/SP
2002 - São Paulo SP - Visions and Alumbramentos: Brazilian contemporary photography from the Joaquim Paiva collection, NA OCA
2003 - Barcelona (Spain) - Maps Abiertos. Latinoamericana photography 1991-2002, in Palau de la Virreina
2003 - Brasília DF - ARTFOTO, at CCBB
2003 - Madrid (Spain) - maps Abiertos. Latin American photography 1991-2002, at Fundación Telefónica
2003 - São Paulo SP - MAC USP 40 years: Contemporary Interfaces, at MAC/USP
2003 - São Paulo SP - Nature Dead, in the BM&F
2003 - São Paulo SP - Black Memories, Memórias de Negros: The Luso-Afro-Brazilian Imaginary and the Heritage of Slavery, in the Sesi Art Gallery
2003 - São Paulo SP - Tomie Ohtake in the spiritual plot of Brazilian art, at the Tomie Ohtake Institute
2004 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Tomie Ohtake in the spiritual plot of Brazilian art, at MNBA
2004 - São Paulo SP - The price of seduction: from corset to silicone, at Itaú Cultural
Source: Itaú Cultural
