Ciro Fernandes

    Ciro Fernandes, was born in Uiraúna, in the hinterland of Paraíba, on January 31, 1942, in the middle of the Second World War. As a child, he drew on woods and on the walls of his grandparents' house. The city's bookies collectors used figures drawn by him to play the game and announce the results. The drought of 1958 pushed Ciro, aged 16, to his aunt's house, in Natal (RN), where he worked as a bus conductor and mechanical welder. Two years later he moved to São Paulo, and made a living as a laborer and house painter. In 1961, he arrived in Rio without money or acquaintances, and supported himself by painting oxen in butcher shops and price posters for shops. Later, as he improved his artistic skills, he began to work in advertising agencies where he held the position of art director in three of them. He was also an illustrator for Jornal do Brasil and O Globo.

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Ciro's art is the identity of the cordel leaflets, handcrafted publications of stories in rhymes, which he helped transform into simple works of art by suggesting changing the photographs that illustrated the covers for woodcuts. The talent of the cordelists was complemented by the arts. With a sharp simplicity like the gouges he uses to carve wood, Ciro transforms techniques and concepts of art. His works are part of important collections such as the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes.

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He also illustrated books by authors such as Raquel de Queiroz, Orígenes Lessa, Gilberto Freire, Autran Dourado, Ferreira Gullar, José Lins do Rego and Ana Maria Machado. He also signed covers for albums such as Zé Ramalho and a CD by singer and composer from São Paulo, Sérgio Ricardo, who set to music “Estória de João Joana”, written by none other than Carlos Drummond de Andrade.

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He is the only illustrator to receive the Machado de Assis Prize from the Brazilian Academy of Letters, for his artwork on the book “Cordelinho” by Chico Salles – and his works are spread across walls and collections. His woodcuts are the most apparent aspect of his enormous talent, which also overflows over into his paintings.

 

In 2020, he celebrated his 80 years of age and 50 years of profession with exhibitions at the Centro Cultural do Banco do Nordeste (CCBN) in Sousa, in Alto Sertão of Paraíba, and at the Pinacoteca do Estado, in Natal. He also participated in the exhibition O Corpo Moderno (The Modern Body), at the Museu Municipal de Arte, in Curitiba, which brought together artworks, including drawings, paintings, engravings and sculptures, by Pablo Picasso and Cândido Portinari, among others.

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Today, Ciro produces like never before in his new atelier in Lapa, a bohemian area in the center of Rio, a 120m² space with more than 50 artworks on display, including woodcuts, canvases, matrices and illustrations. It is in this place that he receives friends, clients, other artists and his social media followers. Ciro has more than 200 thousand followers and 10 million views on the profile @cirofernandesxilo.