Ayrson Heráclito is an artist, curator, and professor. Master in Visual Arts at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador; and is PhD. in Comunication and Semiotics at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP), Brazil. His works are derived from the idea of the sacred as expressed in the rituals and symbols of Candomblé, the religion the artist has practiced for almost thirty years. The organic materials used in Afro-Brazilian rites contribute greatly to his work, and are taken to their plastic and semantic limits. The artist also explores the performative and trance-inducing qualities of Candomblé, as well as its magical character, which implies in the conjuring, purification and reorganization of energies, histories and memories. He has exhibited at collective shows such as 57th Venice Bienniale (2017); Afro-Brazilian Contemporary Art, Europalia.Brasil, Brussels, Belge (2012); The Luanda Triennial, Angola (2010); and MIP 2, International Performance Manifestation, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2009). He lives in Salvador, Brazil.
Photo: Tiago Santana.