Adriano Ávila
Earth, Wind, and Fire

WORDS | ANDREW KAISER AND KIRK BROMLEY

They say São Paulo is the metropolitan jewel of Brazil. Its sheer size can be overwhelming to anyone visiting for the first time.

With over seventeen million people living inside its borders it is the largest city in South America and the third largest in the world. Its cuisines are among the finest across the globe, and its art community is consistently at the forefront of creative thinking.

With artists like Adriano Ávila working there, these facts are not only true, but are of startling importance as well. A literal labyrinth of factories and skyscrapers, São Paulo lies in stark impenetrable contrast to the Brazilian jungles that thrive just outside its city limits. But one only needs to look at the photography of Adriano Ávila to know that the city is no solitude against the wild nature of the jungle; instead he has embraced its tangled masses in a strange fusion of old and new. Here the primitive meets the metropolitan in perfect harmony.

Born in 1973, Adriano Ávila has always been drawn to the arts. Since a young age he has been involved in theater projects, music, and three dimensional creations. The powers of the photograph however have always been his primary devotion. He is currently working on the production of two books, Os Arraias da Estrada Real or “The Rays of the Real Highway” and Corpo sáo Corpos, roughly translated to “Bodies is Bodies”. This coming year he will be showing his work at a major exhibition in Amsterdam, Hollywood, and Toronto.

A rare mixture of skin, metal, light, and earth, the work of Adriano Ávila is at first captivating and powerful in ways that transcend subtlety. In some images, streaks of light flow across the bodies of his subjects, giving the viewer a sense of energy and motion. In others, his models are caked with layers of dirt and soil, creating a kind of stillness and beauty. On occasion these elements are combined, playing with our sense of comfort and invoking the contrasts of big city life. Being pulled in a multitude of directions in such a massive place is not an uncommon feeling.

São Paulo is also one of the most multicultural centers on earth, and the work of Adriano Ávila has embraced this fact as well in sometimes rather unconventional ways; so much so that it is almost doubtful the artist is aware of its existence. In many photographs his subjects are so heavily caked with dirt and soil that their heritage (and sometimes even their gender) is not discernable to the viewer. We are blinded to this infor-mation as if to say it is irreverent for the purposes of appreciating beauty. Other times an obvious mixture of light, dark, and even deathly pale skin are combined in a mash of flesh and light.

Cultural icons are plainly visible as well. The shadow of a crucifix can be found in the lower corners of the frame harkening to a heavy Catholic presence throughout Brazil. A child's doll hangs from the wall just out of focus near the naked body of his subject; playing with our notions of innocence lost and yet still sought after, its eyes black and void of a life we all still cling to. These elements are subtle and perhaps overshadowed by the sensual nature and fluid movements of Ávila's subjects. But they are there all the same and warrant the viewer to a second look, and a third, and a fourth.

It is not so uncommon for an artist to be completely influenced by his surroundings. Some artists even define their work in this way. Where would Ansel Adams or Edward Weston be without the California landscape to guide them? Would Weegee have ever garnered so much attention if he did not translate the world of New York City onto film? Or what about Bill Brandt's spot on interpretations of the English at home? Though perhaps not as outward as the previous examples, Adriano Ávila is in many ways no different. His surroundings are naturally engraved into the elements of his work. He manipulates them, reflects them, and in his own way, speaks on their behalf.