Chico Da Silva

Chico da Silva, born to a mother from Ceará and an indigenous father from the Peruvian Amazon, spent his childhood until the age of ten in the community of Alto Tejo. In 1934, his family moved to Fortaleza, Ceará. Despite being semi-illiterate and having worked in various non-artistic jobs such as repairing shoes and making tin stoves, Chico always expressed his art by drawing on city walls with charcoal and chalk, being self-taught.

His artistic life took a new direction when he was discovered by Swiss painter Jean-Pierre Chabloz in the 1950s while drawing on a wall at Pirambu beach in Fortaleza. Impressed by his graffiti, Chabloz decided to teach him the techniques of gouache and oil painting, making him his disciple. Chico da Silva then began exhibiting his work in Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro, and even in Switzerland. In 1966, he received an honorable mention at the XXXIII Venice Biennale. However, in 1969, Chabloz broke with Chico, later criticizing the quality of his work in an interview.

Sources:
Photo: https://www.minimuseufirmeza.org/artista/chico-da-silva