7.5 – Athos bulcão tiles

Athos Bulcão was born in 1918 in Catete, Rio de Janeiro and died in Brasilia in 2008. He was a Brazilian painter, sculpture and designer who studied medicine and changed his major to art. He worked with Portinari on the Mural de São Francisco de Assis (São Francisco de Assis Mural) in Pampulha. In 1957 he was invited by the architect, Oscar Niemeyer, to join the Brasilia construction team. He moved in 1958 and, since then, never left the capital.

His work possesses an extreme harmony between design, form and color, which resulted in original, multiple and lucid creations. One can find paintings, designs, collages, masks, sceneries and theatrical figurines, murals, panels and custom made sculptures in his collection. The big difference in Athos Bulcão’s work is its democratization, for the most part it is exposed in different points in the city, accessible to all who pass by. Besides that, what is unique is the way it is able to integrate art and architecture.

His creations are present in Brazilian cities such as Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais and in countries such as Algeria, Italy and France. In Brasilia, there are about 260 catalogued works on display in schools, churches, theaters, universities, residences, apartment building open areas, plazas, parks, commercial buildings, restaurants, hospitals and stores.

In 1992, the Athos Bulcão Foundation was created with the objective of preserving and publicizing his work. The foundation also develops projects directed toward the education of children, teens and adults and makes education, art and cultural assets available to all. In 2009, the artist’s work that makes up the Brasilia urban project were considered an important heritage by the federal government, considering that they are like signatures on the city landscape identity and unique in their genus.