Tinho: capturing the emotion of the favella
Extracted from a review of Street Art Brazil, April 2008. Gallery 32
Review by Bryan Denyer, published by The Independent
4.4.2008

“Brazil provides the art world with some of the most dynamic and inspirational graffiti. It features a dramatic use of distinctive colours, symbolism drawn from a rich South American culture and, most importantly, the emotional responses that dire social iniquities provoke.

Of the three artists featured in the show, which was organised in association with Brazilian Embassy in London, Tinho tackles social and political issues head-on. While his representations of like in the slums of Sao Paulo are superficially simple, his characters and backgrounds portray heart rending human conditions.

in Tinho’s world, children are drawn into prostitution and drug-dealing while their parents look on helplessly. He shows the callous targeting of Sao Paulo’s underclass. many too por to even put a roof over their heads. He brings the lurking danger of a hostile city to the surface, enlisting the viewer’s empathy with the hopelessness of his subject’s lives.”

We bought two of Tinho’s oils (pictured) from the Gallery 32 exhibition, adding them to two screen prints already in the collection.