Jadir João Egídio

1933, Divinópolis | MG - Brazil

The major repercussion of G.T.O.’s sculpture in the 1960s encouraged other artists in Divinópolis to develop and show their work. Jadir João Egídio’s has complete formal autonomy and express his religiousness in a unique way. His portraits of men and women, close to his everyday life, assume the gravity of suffering and silence of many images of Roman sculpture, an affinity that it denotes without his ever having seen this chapter in the history of western art. Jadir spent his childhood in the countryside.

In 1960 he moved to the city, where he worked as a cart driver until 1977. That year he felt a strong urge to cut small blocks of wood and create objects and figures. Since then he has worked as a sculptor, and produced more than 500 pieces in his home workshop. He concentrates especially on the sculpture of saints, figures from the regional culture and close friends. He very energetically carves the block of wood, emphasizing its lines of for in compact volumes, as in Romanesque sculpture, and this is evident in Vó Rita that we show here. He also creates sculptured reliefs, like the last suppers, which were transformed by his expressive style, and the formal carefulness of his hand. In 1986 he took part in the Salon of the Popular Artist 22, Sculptors from Divinópolis, in what is today the National Center of Folklore and Popular Culture un Rio de Janeiro. Demand for his work has been increasing in the main centers in São Paulo and Rio.

Source: Little Dictionary of the Brazilian People’s Art – 20th Century, by anthropologist and poet Lélia Coelho Frota

Individual Exhibitions:

2010 Spirituality, Brasiliana Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2009 Jadir João Egídio - sculptures, GLTA Art Gallery, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil

2009 Jadir João Egídio - sculptures, Grêmio Literário Tristão de Ataíde, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil

Collective Exhibitions:

2020 Between Fragments and Cracks, Museu Janete Costa de Arte Popular, Niteroi, RJ, Brazil

2016 A certain look - Celma Albuquerque Collection, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2016 Live the Brazilian People, Centro Cultural Correios, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2016 Between looks: poetics of the Brazilian soul, Museu Afro, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2012 - 2013 Janete Costa “A Look”, Janete Costa Museum, Niterói, RJ, Brazil

2015 In the Meantime, Galeria Tina Zappoli, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

2012 Stubbornness of Imagination: ten Brazilian artists, Tomie Ohtake Institute, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2011 Mineiros’ Sculptures, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2011 Mineiros’ Sculptures, City Hall, Eduardo Gomes Cultural Space, Itapeva, SP, Brazil

2011 Mineiros’ Sculptures, Museu Paulo Setubal, Tatuí, SP, Brazil

2009 Casa Brazil Fair, Bento Gonçalves Event Park - Bento Gonçalves, RS, Brazil

2008 - 2009 Brazilian People’s Imagination Exhibition, Antiquarius Restaurant, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2007 Between two seas: Biennale São Paulo-Valencia, Convento del Carmo, Valencia, Spain

2007 The Size of Brazil, SESC Paulista, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2006 SOMOS - the popular Brazilian creation, Santander Cultural Center, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

2006 Live Culture Live the Brazilian People, Afro Brasil Museum, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2004 - 2005 Form, Color and Expression, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2003 Humanities, Tina Zappoli Gallery, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

1986 Room of Folk Art, National Center for Folklore and Popular Culture, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Public Collections:

Latin America Memorial, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Pinacoteca of the State of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Folklore Museum, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Selected Publications:

2016 Um certo olhar - Coleção Celma Albuquerque, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2012 - 2013 Janete Costa “A look”, Museu Janete Costa, Niterói, RJ, Brazil

2012 Stubborn Imagination, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, publisher Ipsis Grafica e Editora, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2011 Mineiros’ Sculptures, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2010 Spirituality, Catalog, Brasiliana Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2007 Meeting Between Two Seas: São Paulo-Valencia Biennial, Catalog, Valencia, Spain

2007 Live the Living Culture of the Brazilian People, AfroBrasil Museum, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2005 Little Dictionary of the Brazilian People’s Art - 20th century, Lélia Coelho Frota, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1988 The Afro-Brazilian hand: Meaning of Artistic and Historical Contribution, Emílio Odebrecht Foundation, São Paulo, SP, Brazil