Guia Cultural da Costa Verde

Paraty • Paraty

STUDIO BANANAL

Twin artists, inspired by poetic archeology

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The Fernando Fernandes and Sérgio Atilano partnership between two artists from São Paulo who moved to Paraty 22 years ago, may be viewed in the white art gallery where their excellent works of art strike the eyes. Studio Bananal has existed for 20 years. The name refers to the road to Bananal (Paraty/Cunha), where they lived in a cottage surrounded by greenery and included a banana plantation in the property.

Their canvasses are easily recognized owing to their distinct styles. Fernando prefers geometric strokes while Sérgio follows a pointillist style. Yet their works go far beyond the use of acrylic paints, which are often mixed. They have created a number of works – many being joint productions – that impress by virtue of the apparent simplicity of form and complexity in the use materials such as rusty nails, fragments of china, leaves and roots, twigs, remnants of wood and other items, truly valuable raw materials that are found here and there. They refer to the act of gathering these materials as “poetic archeology”.

In addition to the canvasses, their works of art may be seen in sculptures, staves decorated in a geometric precision and mobiles, such as those created by Fernando for the “Vento Forte” exhibition, where he had roughly 40 on display in an installation.

In 2013, Fernando reassumed his love for photography and clicked the details of Paraty’s poetic daily life. His photos were shown in important spaces such as Galeria Belvedere, and may also be acquired directly from the artist.

What always impressed both artists and attracted them to the town is that fact that “Paraty is a port town, with arrivals and departures…”, which certainly serves as a daily inspiration and encourages them to keep on reinventing ways of devising their unusual creations.

Information