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Laying wood dog from Sertânia

Marcos de Sertânia - 2019

Carved ceder wood

13,00 cm height x 54,00cm width x 8,00 cm depth

USD 470,00

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Delivery period: 20 to 25 days to any country outside Brazil

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Product code: 14373

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THE ARTIST

Marcos de Sertânia

“I have lived through everything that I put in my work: I have suffered in the droughts, helped my mother to carry water on her head. My father was a cowman: I have seen cattle die of hunger”

With the country’s lowest rainfall index, the Sertão – the semi-arid hinterland – of the state of Pernambuco in Brazil’s Northeast is the area most chastised by the frequent droughts affecting the region. The scarcity and irregularity of rain, due to peculiarities of air masses and its landscape, puts its economy – based on cattle and subsistence crops – permanently at risk.

The frequent droughts severely affect rural farmers, who often lose crops and herds; and lack of food and drinking water penalizes the population. But in spite of this, the region has a rich popular culture, with a wealth of traditional folklore, religious festivals, and especially legends and beliefs surrounding the San Francisco River. With these strong influences, a very large number of people have skills in the arts, music and poetry.

Marcos Paulo Lau da Costa – known as Marcos de Sertânia, because he was born and grew up in Sertânia, Pernambuco, is a shining example. From a family of farmers and artisans, who produced domestic utensils and small sculptures of cattle, he is part of a new generation of masters of Brazilian popular art, who innovate with language and with their own style.

Self-taught, and using wood as the basis for his sculptures, he portrays the suffering caused by the droughts, creating gaunt, skeletal figures, permeated with drama and melancholy.

“I have lived through everything that I put in my work: I have suffered in the droughts, helped my mother to carry water on her head. My father was a cowman: I have seen cattle die of hunger” – he says.

The human and animal figures he creates exude the atmosphere of the Northeast. Seeing his dogs sculpted in wood reminds us of the dog Baleia in the great work of Brazilian writer Graciliano Ramos, Vidas Secas (Barren Lives): “Baleia was dying. She had lost weight, her skin was falling off at various points, her ribs protruded from a rosy-colored background…”

His sculptures, thin and disproportionately long, remind us of the universe of the Italian painter and sculptor Modigliani, famous for his portraits with long faces and bodies, and the erotic nudes that made him one of the great personalities of painting in the early 20^th century.

“I like the disproportional, the same way that I see beauty in my universe. Drought is a terrible thing, but the landscape itself is very beautiful,” says this artist with his singular view of the world around him.

He took his first steps in handcraft work at the age of 12, when he would visit his artisan grandfather. He also received influence from four uncles, all artisans. He would work with their tools and began to make what they made, such as an ox carts and wooden spoons. After his secondary education, he dedicated himself exclusively to execution of his pieces and development of his style in his sculptures.

Currently, as well as his artistic production, he generously passes on to young people of the region where he lives the artistic skills he learned from members of his family. “Many families here make a living from what I have taught, and I always have some pupils working with me. My atelier is always open to new artists,” he says.

Art, for Marcos, as well as being his source of income, is also a source of pride, because it is through it that he now lives, supports his family and still has time to share his knowledge with others. He has participated actively in salons and expositions in Brazil, and since 2011 has been a member of the Masters Group of the Brazilian National Handcrafts Business Fair – Fenearte. His works are in collections in Brazil and around the world.

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