João Pilarski 

1929, Guaragi | PR - Brazil

2004, Ponta Grossa | PR - Brazil

João Pilarski’s family moved to Ponta Grossa in 1937 with the intention to give the children a suitable education. But João end up suffering of poliomyelitis and he was not able to finished his elementary school, being confined to his bed from 12 years old on, able to move only his arms. After his father’s death, he received a small pension which was complemented by some pieces he would make by order, particularly funerary ornaments. From the 70s he started dedicating entirely to his artistic career, showing his works for the first time at the XXIII Salão de Artes Plásticas para Novos, in Ponta Grossa. In 1979 he did his first individual exhibition, at the Centro de Criatividade da Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa. His work is a result of a detailed movement he does with the end on brush, reviving memories of rural landscape: houses, backyards, and habits of the local people.

Source: Catalog - POP BRASIL: popular Art and the popular in Art | CCBB – Gama, 2002

Collective Exhibitions:

2014 Hidden Treasure: folk Brazilian painting, Galeria Brasilian, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2002 Pop Brazil: popular art and popular in art, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB), São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1986 Tradition - Contradiction, Museu de Arte Contemporânea do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

Public Collections:

Casa da Memória Paraná, Ponta Grossa, PR, Brazil

Selected Publications:

2007 Caminhos do Imaginário Popular, author Marlyse Meyer, São Paulo, SP, Brazil