Leonilson Exhibition at Pinakotheke São Paulo Reveals Early Career Works from Antonio Dias Collection

The exhibition 'Leonilson por Antonio Dias — Perfil de uma coleção' is on view at Pinakotheke São Paulo from November 11 to December 14, following a run in Rio de Janeiro. It presents 38 drawings and paintings from the collection of artist Antonio Dias, who acquired them after the death of his friend José Leonilson in 1993. The friendship began in Milan in 1981, when Leonilson, a young artist from Ceará, Brazil, visited Dias at his home on the recommendation of Arthur Luiz Piza. Dias, who lived in Europe, later encouraged Leonilson's career and connected him with gallerist Enzo Cannaviello. The show focuses on Leonilson's early career, with most works from 1981 and 1982, offering a lesser-known facet compared to his later autobiographical embroideries. The collection was assembled by Dias with the help of his widow Paola Chieregato, who he called the 'garimpeira' (prospector). Four additional works from private collections complement the exhibition. Luiz Zerbini, who visited a gallery with Leonilson in the late 1970s, recounts in the catalog how they were shocked by art prices, and later, with Dias, considered destroying Leonilson's recorded diary tapes to avoid propagating a fragile image of the artist.