Francisco Rodrigues da Silva (* 1983) also known as "Nunca" is a Brazilian
graffiti
Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...
who uses Native Brazilian themes in his art. His artist name "Nunca" means "Never" in Portuguese.
Career
Born in São Paulo, Nunca began his career at the age of 12 as a member of a gang spraying ''pichações'' - a Brazilian alternative tag - on walls in
Itaquera, the poor neighborhood in eastern São Paulo where the family lived. He then developed his own style, a mix of colors and lines putting together Brazilian traditions and contemporary claims.
After his family moved to
Aclimação
Aclimação is a prosperous neighborhood in the central region of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It is located in the municipal district of Liberdade, in the Sé Subprefecture.
It borders the neighborhoods: Paraíso, Liberdade, Vila Mariana, ...
, in the south-central part of the city, he began painting graffiti. Nuna painted brightly coloured figures inspired by indigenous Brazilian culture.
Nunca later began to paint canvases and produce sculptures.
Influences
Nunca's style mimics antique etching, techniques used by the conquistadors to portray indigenous tribes and depict the New World, and local iconography with modern treatments. He paints with a mixture of antique and contemporary references. His work has inspired many other street artists. His influence grew worldwide after being the youngest artist exhibited in a major show at the Tate Modern museum in London in 2008. He has worked closely with other major figures on the São Paulo graffiti scene including
Os Gêmeos
OSGEMEOS (also known as Os Gemeos or Os Gêmeos, Portuguese for ''The Twins'') are identical twin street artists Otavio Pandolfo and Gustavo Pandolfo (born 1974). They started painting graffiti in 1987 and their work appears on streets and in gal ...
(the artist twins Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo) and Otavio Pandolfo's wife, Nina.
23 de Maio expressway Wall
Having developed their reputation in
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
Nunca and the Pandolfos were invited to participate in a street-art exhibition at the
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...
Gallery in London that led to a significant re-evaluation of their work by their home city. Following the introduction by the Mayor of São Paulo
Gilberto Kassab
Gilberto Kassab (; born 12 August 1960) is a Brazilian politician and former mayor of São Paulo. His term ended in 2012. A civil engineer and economist, one of the most famous Brazilians of Lebanese descent, Kassab took over from José Serra, a ...
of the "''
Cidade Limpa
Lei Cidade Limpa (Portuguese for ''clean city law'') is a law of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, put into law by proclamation in 2006 that prohibits advertising such as that of outdoor posters. It was proposed by mayor Gilberto Kassab.
15,000 b ...
''" ("Clean City") law aimed at eliminating forms of
visual pollution
The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to detect and process light). The system detects, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to construct an image and buil ...
, including graffiti, an official clean-up campaign led to many images being lost and others damaged. A 680-meter mural painted by the Pandolfos, Nunca and Otavio Pandolfo's wife Nina on retaining walls along the 23 de Maio expressway was half-obliterated with gray paint despite having been officially approved. Recognition abroad of the significance of the artists' work stimulated a public discussion of what constituted art which led to the creation of a registry of street art to be preserved by the city of São Paulo.
Exhibitions
Nunca has exhibited in Brazil at the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo and in Greece at the AfroBrasil Museum
and in the UK at
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...
, the first major display of street art at a public museum in London. The brickwork of the Tate Modern's external walls was decorated with paintings 15 metres high by the artists featured in the exhibition, the Pandolfo twins and Nunca, Blu from Bologna, the Parisian artist JR, the New York collaborative group Faile and Sixeart from Barcelona.
Nunca’s other exhibitions include ''Tag'' at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2009; The boneyard Project in Arizona in 2012 for which the artist painted the fuselage of a World War II airplane; Hecho En Oaxaca, at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in Mexico in 2013; One of the largest figurative mural for the Frestas Triennial of Soroccaba in Brazil in 2017
and Art from the Streets at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore in 2018.
His work has been shown in galleries and institutions around the world including: Hong Kong, Beijing, Miami, Los Angeles, Milan, Bologna, Lisbon, Kyiv etc. Nunca was also the subject of many books and publications, including The Huffington Post, NY and LA Times as well as Art Review.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodrigues Da Silva, Francisco
Brazilian graffiti artists
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)