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A lot has been written about Maurino Araújo’s work. Born in Rio Casca (MG) in1943, he grew up in a family that did a little bit of everything. “We produced our food, built our houses, and made our utensils, everything we needed. I think that’s a heritage from colonial times, when rebel slaves lived in the quilombos. My life has had many turns. We lived in Paraná for a while, away from the clay utensils and roof tiles I had learned to make with my grandfather. So I started drawing on paper, and my mother was my first teacher. At school, I used to draw on the blackboard. In the 1950s we went back to Minas Gerais, to Belo Horizonte.” Maurino says that in the 1960s he finally found wood, because clay wasn’t strong enough for the pieces he had in mind. After joining a seminary in São João del Rey (MG), his talent soon impressed the priests, but they weren’t too keen on his style of sculpture. “While studying I came across the work of Aleijadinho, and fell in love with the baroque style.” Like many other artists, Maurino started showing his work at the craft art fair at Liberdade Square, in Belo Horizonte. There he caught the attention of critics and collectors. Despite the lack of academic study, his work improved very quickly. “I took part in exhibitions here and abroad, and really found myself when I went to Africa in the 1970s. It was as if something inside me had woken up, in a flash, and I began to understand myself better.” Maurino has pieces in many museums and private collections, but seems to be going through a new phase in his life. “I’m leaving behind 10 years of deep depression, and now I feel like creating again, living life to the full.” Perhaps the pressures of art were too much for such a simple, sensitive man. His latest work goes beyond baroque and strikes others as a sign of someone who has found the peace and identity they were looking for. Maurino is Africa, is Minas, is Brazil. If you want to give him a definition as an artist there’s no need to look any further than the quote by Emanuel Araújo: “Maurino is a sculptor angel.” |
