Newton Santanna | Identidade

Since 2005, the gallery inaugurates its annual exhibition calendar with Abre Alas, a group show that was born with the aim of opening space for new artists. This year, with the São Paulo headquarters just over 2 years old, and now with its expansion, A Gentil Carioca takes the opportunity of this space to bring new works by the artists Rose Afefé, Yanaki Herrera and Newton Santanna, participants of the 18th edition of Abre Alas, in 2023. The three exhibitions open on August 26, 2023 and will run until September 23, 2023.

Newton was born in Salvador and moved to São Paulo at the age of 35 to pursue a master's degree in civil engineering at the Federal University of São Carlos. The connection with art comes from his paternal reference, whose profession was a naval mechanic. Newton's father was very skilled in handicrafts, built toy wooden boats during his childhood, and, through him, began to portray the structures of boats through drawings. From his father's professional reference, and also based on dreams, the representation of faces emerged in his work, mostly confined, dimly lit, piled up, which creates the ancestral connection with enslaved peoples, who were kidnapped and confined in Brazilian territory.

The relationship with ancestry is evidenced in the wooden sculptures, in which faces are charred and marked with gouge incisions that refer to the Yoruba tradition. The habit of creating facial scars was widespread as a way of identifying people from the same group, in an attempt to gain recognition, especially in conflict situations. Practice that is also related to the search for identity, this time an identity forged through belonging to the Yoruba people. The representation of this tradition presents us with another process of search for identity that was not conceived by whiteness. Finally, Newton's works carry a syncretism of identity yearnings faced by the Afro-diasporic population.