Chico da Silva's First European Institutional Solo Show at Nottingham Contemporary

Nottingham Contemporary presents the first European institutional solo exhibition of self-taught Brazilian artist Chico da Silva (c. 1922–1985), featuring 36 paintings installed on orange walls. The show is organized into sections 'Water', 'Land', and 'Fantasy', reflecting the artist's upbringing in Sergipe, Brazil, where his father's Amazonian and mother's coastal environments shaped his visual lexicon. Da Silva's flatly colourful, inventive style depicts hybridized animals that are at one with their environments and interact strongly, often in scenes of playful violence. Swiss dealer Jean Pierre Chabloz discovered da Silva's charcoal drawings in 1943 and encouraged him to work in gouache. Da Silva became the first Indigenous artist exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1966. He later ran a studio system in Pirambu, producing collective works, which complicated his market narrative. His career declined in the 1970s due to mental health issues and alcoholism; he died poor in 1985. Renewed attention in the 21st century has led to this exhibition, curated by Salma Tuqan and Niall Ó Faircheallaigh, running until 6 September alongside Augustas Serapinas: Physical Culture.