“Everything that disappears exists with perseverance” was born from the interaction between João Oliveira and the environment of the residence at Casa Boulevard, headquarters of Pivô Salvador. Drawing from the elements present in the space – the ivy that envelops its walls, the branches of a fallen century-old tree, and a out-of-tune piano – the artist aims to highlight what withstands disappearance. By assimilating the technical codes, materials, and visual language of printmaking, he unleashes a kind of graphic invasion that mirrors the growth of the ivy, employing carbon prints and graphite strokes that firmly adhere to surfaces, embracing their contours and reliefs. Persistence emanates from the experience of the slow development of prints and drawings, akin to the march of plant growth. This idea intertwines with the cyclicality of carbon, present in graphite, in the wood of the branches, in the body, in the piano, and in the paper of the same name, endowed with transferable pigment, often through pressure, intensifying the duality between negative and positive, and, consequently, the discrepancy between the interior and exterior of the space. All of this strengthens the decay of a past that persists obstinately, whether of a political or social nature.

João Oliveira (Salvador (BA), Brazil, 1989) Micronarratives, farce, failure, love speech and disappearance are some of João Oliveira’s research interests. The artist has a degree in visual arts from EBA-UFBA (2011), where he also took a Master in Creative Processes (2017) and studied metal engraving in the regular courses of the MAM-BA workshops (2013). His works have been selected for exhibitions in Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Londrina-PR, João Pessoa and Chicago (USA), Mexico and Venice (Italy).