Artist and poet José Francisco Borges (J. Borges) was born in 1935 in the village of Bezerros, Pernambuco state, in Northeastern Brazil. Today Borges is Brazil’s best-known folk artist working in the woodcut medium, and his work has been exhibited all over the world. But he comes out of a long tradition of folk poet/artists who publish their own work in the form of small (generally about 6″ by 9″) cheap chap-books or pamphlets written in verse, known as folhetos. They are also known as literatura de cordel after the way vendors sell them in the marketplace, hanging over a string. Working with just a knife and a chunk of wood, Mr. Borges proves that ”low-level technology often yields very powerful, moving and sophisticated results” [...]

Hélio Oiticica (Rio de Janeiro, 1937 – idem, 1980). Together with his brother, César Oiticica, he began studying painting and drawing with Ivan Serpa at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro – MAM/RJ [Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro], in 1954. He took part in the Opinião 66 [Opinion 66] and Nova Objetividade Brasileira [New Brazilian Objectivity], presenting the Tropicália environmental demonstration. In 1969, at the Whitechapel Gallery, in London, he realised what he called the Whitechapel Experience, presenting the Éden [Eden] project. For most of the 1970s, he lived in New York, during which period, he was a visiting scholar of the Guggenheim Foundation, taking part in the Information show, at the Museum of Modern Art – MoMA. He returned to Brazil in 1978. After his death, the Projeto Hélio Oiticica [Hélio Oiticica Project] was created in Rio de Janeiro, in 1981, with the aim of preserving, analysing and promoting his work, under the direction of Lygia Pape, Luciano Figueiredo and Waly Salomão [...]

Brazil’s productivity growth outstrips the US and Mexico is rivaling India for outsourcing. Rhymer Rigby says Latin America’s emergence is built on quality and creativity. Check out what else did Design Council Magazine said about Brazil’s economy [...]

Aloísio Magalhães, while still attending law school in Recife (the capital of Pernambuco), had already begun to show his fascination with graphic arts. Coincidentally, a famous cousin of Magalhães, the renowned Brazilian poet João Cabral de Melo Neto, moved to Recife at that time. This cousin strongly encouraged the two young artists to open their own private print shop. Magalhães became excited about the idea of setting up a print shop and they sought other former friends from the university who were also involved in literature and graphic arts. Among the main names of those who founded O Gráfico Amador in 1954, it is worth mentioning Ariano Suassuna, José Laurenio, and Orlando da Costa Ferreira.

Aloísio Magalhães took his first steps in the field of graphic design took place while he was still attending law school in Recife. he set up, together with some friends, a modest print shop called O Gráfico Amador that, during the eight subsequent years that it was operating, published 27 books, 3 sets of fliers, 2 bulletins and a theater program [...]

Vicente do Rego Monteiro (Recife, Pernambuco, 1899 – idem, 1970). Painter, sculptor, draughtsman, illustrator, graphic artist. Began his artistic studies in 1908, accompanying his sister, Fedora do Rego Monteiro (1889 – 1975) on courses at the National School of Fine Arts (Enba) in Rio de Janeiro.

For the first time in Australia, Brazilian graphic artist Rogério Duarte will exhibit original examples of art and design including his acclaimed album covers and film posters at The Narrows, within the 2009 Melbourne International Arts Festival.