José Bernnô (José Norberto de Mattos)

1949 São Paulo, Brazil | 2009 São Paulo, Brazil

Painter, mechanic and musician. He was born and lived in the neighborhood of Limão, north of São Paulo. He graduated as a mechanic technician at the National Service for Industrial Learning (Senai) and worked with mechanical development projects. Around the age of 20, working at a car dealership and participating in sports races, he specializes in vehicle bodywork and painting.

He studies architectural design and works as a designer. At that time, he began to produce figurative paintings. José Bernnô sets up its first mechanic shop in approximately 1979, Onix Import, which specializes in vehicle bodywork, painting and customization.

He entered the Faculty of Fine Arts of São Paulo, where he graduated in 1987. From 2001 onwards, he attended free courses with the painters Paulo Pasta (1959) and Marco Giannotti (1966). Participates in the 30th Ribeirão Preto Art Salon in 2005 and receives the acquisition award. He created the installation Torre (2005) with the artist Bruna Costa, at Ateliê 397, in São Paulo.

He continues painting in his mechanic shop. When requesting services to repair their car, some artists will come into contact with the paintings exhibited there and recognize in them an aesthetically rich production. This resulted in his first solo exhibition at Estúdio Buck (2008), in São Paulo and, in the same year, filmmaker Pedro Gorski begins the production of the documentary Bernnô, completed in 2010. He died in 2009 because of a heart attack. In 2010 Rodrigo Naves and Maurício produced an exhibition in which they present unpublished works of the artist.

Source: Enciclopedia Itaú Cultural

Individual Exhibitions:

2016 José Bernnô, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brasil

2008 Buck Studio, São Paulo, Brazil

2006 Ribeirão Preto Art Museum (MARP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil

2005 Body Shop and Painting ONIX Garage, São Paulo, Brazil

2004 Body Shop and Painting Garage, Curated by Pedro Lopes, São Paulo, Brazil

2004 Inaugural Virgilio Workshop. Supervisors: Marco Giannotti, Osmar Pinheiro, São Paulo, Brazil

Collective Exhibitions:

2021 Bailão de dois: dialogue between artists, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2020 Two Josés: Bernnô e Bezerra, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2007 Virgilio Gallery, São Paulo, Brazil

2007 Escola São Paulo, curated by Juliana Monachesi, São Paulo, Brazil

2007 Ribeirão Preto Art Museum (Centro Empresarial), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil

2007 11th Contemporary Art Salon of São Bernardo do Campo (Acquisition Award), São Paulo, Brazil

2007 35th Luiz Sacilotto Contemporary Art Exhibition (Santo André), São Paulo, Brazil

2006 “Permanent Passage” Banco do Nordeste Cultural Center, Fortaleza, Brazil

2006 11th Contemporary Art Paulista Salon, São Paulo, Brazil

2005 30th SARP Ribeirão Preto Art Museum (Acquisition Award), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil

2005 Installation - Project “A Torre”, Ateliê 397, São Paulo, Brazil

2004 Tomie Ohtake Institute. curated by Paulo Pasta, São Paulo, Brazil

2004 Ribeirão Preto Art Museum (MARP), São Paulo, Brazil

Public Collections:

Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Museu de Arte Moderna MAM, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Fine Arts of SP, Ribeirão Preto Art Museum, João Carlos F. Ferraz, Mario C. Carvalho, São Bernardo do Campo City Hall, SP, Brazil

Selected Publications:

2016 Exhibition catalog, "Bernnô", Galeria Estação, Lis Gráfica, São Paulo, SP, Brazil