Brazil is a country which is being increasingly recognised artistically as a result of its exceptional culture, which combines a deep traditional element with a high level of aesthetic refinement. In this his first retrospective exhibition, Efrain Almeida is evidence of the capacity of Brazilian art to link a specific cultural inheritance to the concerns and trends of contemporary sculpture.
Brazil is a country which is being increasingly recognised
artistically as a result of its exceptional culture, which combines a
deep traditional element with a high level of aesthetic refinement.
In this his first retrospective exhibition, Efrain Almeida (Boa
Viagem, Ceará, Brazil, 1964) is evidence of the capacity of
Brazilian art to link a specific cultural inheritance to the concerns
and trends of contemporary sculpture.
The influence of the traditional craftsmanship of the Brazilian
Northwest on Efrain Almeida can be clearly perceived. Having
said this, his works are not mere votive offerings or traditional
Brazilian images. They contain elements reworked in a
contemporary fashion, based on the transformation of meaning
and form. They are remakes of Catholic images impregnated with
Ceará's pantheistic element, of popular beliefs, personal stories
into which he places new material. Works which evoke the
harmony of things traditional and erudite, instinctive and
calculated, simple and sophisticated.
Here in the CGAC, Efrain Almeida presents us with a singular
proposal insofar as his work is concerned, intimately related to the
city of Santiago, soul worship, the miracles of the Apostle through
not very spectacular pieces of work, far from the present
dominant trend towards large scale, where he works with open
suggestions, with possibilities of meaning. Pieces of work which,
in spite of their intimist scale, propose a global occupation of the
space which plays host to them and which invite the spectator to
come closer, be an accomplice, so that the minor details, the
differences, can be revealed.
Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea ,
c/ Valle Inclán s/n,
15704 Santiago de Compostela,
A Coruña, Spain,
Tel: 0034-81-546629
Opening Hours
Tuesday/ Sunday: 11:00-20:00 h
Monday: Closed
Handicapped person access
Prebooking guided visits
Tel.0034-81-546631
General information: cgac@mail.xunta.es