The Brazilian art scene is having a moment, with international art publications running features on the country’s artists and galleries from São Paulo to Salvador, and curators from London to NYC falling over themselves to champion Brazilian artists. One name keeps cropping up – Anderson Borba, whose tactile, carved wooden works have been increasingly finding homes with astute collectors the world over. Forever curious, OutThere’s Creative Director Martin Perry heads to São Paulo to find out more about the man, his work and why he chose to return to Brazil after over two decades living in London.
As we open the door of our taxi we’re immediately drawn to the cacophony of sound emanating from half-open red metal shutters: the agitated buzz of an unidentifiable power tool is punctuated by the rhythmic tapping of a mallet against the wooden handle of a chisel, whilst melodic jovial Portuguese voices mix with upbeat house music. We assume the rollers have been left ajar to keep the stifling Brazilian summer air flowing through the workshop behind. We put our head through the gap in the shutters and call out, hopefully, loud enough to be heard over the music. A few moments later we’re in the warm embrace of the man we’ve travelled halfway around the world to see – the impossibly handsome and equally talented Anderson Borba. The sound levels dip momentarily as we’re introduced to each of his four assistants, before rising again with excitement. It’s immediately clear to us that this is more of a family than a collection of colleagues, and we feel at home despite our lack of Portuguese.
Anderson’s studio is on Rua Sousa Lima, Barra Funda, a light industrial district in São Paulo, Brazil. He spends half of the year here but there are noticeable similarities with the east end of London where he spends the other half, albeit at different ends of the gentrification process. Barra Funda, is still in an early stage where artists and local mechanics share the same streets, and designer bars filled with fashionable young people sit opposite local bars catering for working-class men with pool tables and makeshift counters. It feels like Brooklyn of 15 years ago when the predominantly white middle classes decided it was safe enough to move to and in the process changed it forever. From our very limited time in the city (we landed just 24 hours prior), Barra Funda seems to be the only low-rise area in what appears to us to be a never-ending ocean of concrete tower blocks and intersecting freeways, which cut like rivers right into and through the heart of the city, carrying an unrelenting flow of vehicles. Despite its obvious industrial past, it has the air of a village or, at least, a neighbourhood. Enough to hit on the radar of more astute estate agents and property developers.
Dividing his time between two of the world’s largest, most dynamic and most diverse cities in the world gives Anderson Borba a unique perspective, his experience of the fashion world from a previous career as an accessories designer, and his relatively recent success in the international art scene has allowed for him not only to develop his practice, but to foster the talents of his four assistants. His works, a mix of freestanding sculptures and wall-mounted wooden reliefs are the result of a wide range of techniques carved, collaged and painted upon, sometimes burnt with a torch and then cut up and reassembled. Over the next couple of weeks, we’re lucky enough to witness, and film the process of him and his assistants creating a new collection in preparation for 3 back-to-back shows in New York, London, and here in São Paulo. In a rare quiet moment, we manage to sit him down in front of our camera to share his thoughts on his work and the city he once knew as a teenager and has chosen to return to, making it his regular part-time base.
Photography and video by Martin Perry
