Conceição dos Bugres

[Conceição Freitas da Silva]

1914, Povinho de Santiago - RS / 1984, Campo Grande - MS

Conceição Freitas da Silva was Born in Rio Grande do Sul, and in 1957 moved to Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul State, where she spent the rest of her life. Her sober synthetic art spread from there to be known in the large cultural centers of the country. Working on the land, married to artist Abilio Antunes, mother of two children, semi-literate, even the heavy daily chores – cutting logs, planting, cooking – did not prevent her from creating one of the strongest portraits of Brazilian popular sculpture: bugres, or roughly hewn figures. She carved the first from a manioc stump then moved on to wood. A dream revealed to her the yellow wax technique, which she would use to add the finishing touches to her figures. Considered by critic Aline Figueiredo (1979) to be one of the top sculptors in Mato Grosso, her work with brutalist symbols shows a constant study of shape, as if the brute were the icon of the constant quest of her and our own identity.

Source Little Dictionary of the Brazilian People’s Art – 20th Century, by anthropologist and poet Lélia Coelho Frota

Individual Exhibitions:

2021 – 2021 Conceição dos Bugres: the nature of the world, Museu de Arte De São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), São Paulo

2017 Conceição dos Bugres, Galeria Estação, São Paulo

Collective Exhibitions:

2021 They Were Already Here, Galeria Base, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2020 Women in Folk Art, Galeria Estação, São Paulo

2012 - 2013 Janet Costa "Looking ", Janet Costa Museum, Niteroi, RJ, Brazil

2010 Pavilion of Brazilian Cultures - Pure mixtures, Pavilhão de Culturas Brasileiras - Gate 10 - Pq. Ibirapuera, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2007 Encuentro entre dos Mares- Biennale of São Paulo- Valencia, Convento del Carmen, Valencia, Spain

2007 The size of Brazil: Exhibition of Popular Arts SESC Paulista , São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2006 SOMOS - Brazil's popular creation, Centro Cultural Santander, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

2005 Forms, Color and Expression - Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2005 Year of Brazil in France, Carreau du Temple , Paris, France

2004 Overview of the Art History of Mato Grosso do Sul through the collection of MARCO (Museu de Arte contemporânea do Mato Grosso do Sul), Campo Grande

2001 Popular Expression, Centro Cultural Light, São Paulo

2000 Shows Rediscovery - Brazil 500 years, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1974 Nacional Biennale 74, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo

1972 Art/Brazil/Today: 50 years after, Galeria da Collectio, São Paulo

1971 5° Artists of Mato Grosso, Galeria Ibeu Copacabana

Public Collections:

Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Selected Publications:

2021 – 2021 Conceição dos Bugres: the nature of the world, Museu de Arte De São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), organizer e curator Amanda Cerneiro e Fernando Oliva, São Paulo

2020 Women in Folk Art, Galeria Estação, São Paulo

2018 Brazilian outsider art: a contemporary survey, WMF Martins Fontes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2017 Conceição dos Bugres, Galeria Estação, São Paulo

2012 - 2013 Janete Costa “Um Olhar”, Museu Janete Costa, Niterói, RJ, Brazil 

2007 Viva a Cultura Viva do Povo Brasileiro, Museu AfroBrasil, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2005 Little Dictionary of the Brazilian People’s Art – 20th Century: the twentieth century, Publisher Airship, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2002 POP Brasil: A Arte popular e o popular na Arte, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2000 Mostra do Redescobrimento - Brasil 500 anos | Arte Popular, Takano publisher, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1992 Viva o Povo Brasileiro: artesanato e arte popular, publisher Novas Fronteiras, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 

1984 Poética dos bugres: uma incursão sobre arte, identidade e o outro/ Isabella Banducci Amizo – Rio de Janeiro