Antonio de Araujo Pereira, better known as Totonho, was born in 1958 in the state of Bahia, Brazil. He started painting as a child and exhibited his paintings for the first time in 1973 at Bar Rouxinol in Capoeiruçu, a village where he spent part of his adolescence. In 1974 he moved to Salvador, capital of the state Bahia, and started off his artistic career participating in collective exhibitions.
In 1982 Totonho met plastic artist Gil Abelha. This encounter was the start of an important artistic, cultural and social movement in Pelourinho. Together with other artists, they founded the Association of Popular Artists of the Historic Center of Salvador.
Totonho is a self-taught artist and a person of nature by heart. His work reflects his strong love and sensibility for the environment. Moreover, he is a meticulous and masterful artist whose paintings not only show the beauty of the overwhelming Brazilian nature, but also his concern for the depressing reality of the destruction of the Amazonian rainforest.
Although Totonho is primarily a primitive painter, his technique and subjects are hardly traditional and his work defies classification. There lies the essence of his long and worldwide success, which includes participation in numerous salons, workshops and expositions in many different countries such as Brazil, Portugal, France, Spain, Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada and the USA.
[bio in pdf-format]
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solo exhibitions
2009 Anne Lloyd Gallery - Decatur, Illinois, USA
2006 Gallery Geraldes da Silva - Porto, Portugal
2006 Gallery TopArt - Neuss, Germany
2006 Exhibition Center Monumental - Lisbon, Portugal
2006 Atelier 9 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2005 Gallery Arte Imagen - A Coruña, Spain
2004 Nassauer Stall, Wickrath Castle - Mönchengladbach, Germany
2004 Altis Park Hotel - Lisbon, Portugal
2003 Picoas Plaza Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal
2003 Fundação Araguaney - Santiago de Compostela, Spain
2002 Hotel Tivoli - Lisbon, Portugal
2002 Exhibition Center Forum Picoas - Lisbon, Portugal
1996 CGER Bank - Brussels, Belgium
1994 African American Caribbean Center - Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
1993 European Institute for Ecology - Metz, France
1993 Gallery Thermelle - Nancy, France
1993 Fine Arts School - Dijon, France
1990 Canning House - London, Great-Britain
1988 Congress and Exhibition Palace of Córdoba, Spain
1973 Bar Rouxinol - Capoeiruçu, Bahia, Brazil
group exhibitions
2010 Les Artistes du Monde - Lautenbach Zell, France
2009 Gina Gallery - New York, USA
2009 Biennal de Artes Plásticas Brasileiras - Brussels, Belgium
2009 Les Artistes du Monde - Lautenbach Zell, France
2008 Iberostar Bahia Hotel - Praia do Forte, Bahia, Brazil
2008 Pot Interieur - Axel, The Netherlands
2008 Salon International Artistes Contemporains -Geneva, Switzerland
2008 Les Artistes du Monde - Lautenbach Zell, France
2008 Salon de l'Art, Caroussel du Louvre - Paris, France
2008 Salon International de l'Art Contemporaines - Marseille, France
2007 Gallery Center - Lisbon, Portugal
2007 International Art Event - Antwerp, Belgium
2006 Gallery Bagnorea - Annecy, France
2005 Gallery Het Kunstbedrijf - Heemstede, The Netherlands
2005 Town Hall - Gravelines, France
2005 Municipal Exhibition Center - Caudry, France
2005 Municipal Exhibition Center - Bapaume, France
2005 Cultural Center Pouso da Palavra - Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil
2004 The Doors Gallery - Alkmaar, The Netherlands
2003 Center Diagnóstico Oral - Maia, Portugal
2003 Arte Negra Brasileira em Exposição, Cultural Center dos Correios - Salvador, Brazil
2002 Gallery Casa de Arte - Aschaffenburg, Germany
2001 Casa da Bica - Braga, Portugal
2001 Club Fenianos Portuenses - Porto, Portugal
2000 Tourist Center - Porvoa do Varzim, Portugal
2000 Club Bretanha - Carcavelos, Portugal
1999 Town Hall - Vila do Conde, Portugal
1998 Gallery Open Art - Munich, Germany
1998 Gallery ADI - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
1993 Gallery Kasper - Morges, Switzerland
1992 Gallery Chagall - Santurtzi, Spain
1992 ECO 92 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1992 Gallery of the Alliance Française - Curitiba, Brazil
1992 Gallery of the Alliance Française - Brasília, Brazil
1992 Othon Palace Hotel - Salvador, Brazil
1990 Casa dos Artistas - Ilhéus, Brazil
1989 Hotel Meridien - Salvador, Brazil
1989 SENAC - Salvador, Brazil
1989 Cultural Center - Brasilia, Brazil
1988 Gallery Iris Ryman - Marbella, Spain
1988 Gallery Andalucia - Torremolinos, Spain
1986 II Latin-American Arts and Culture Festival - Brasilia, Brazil
1985 Gallery Anizia - Salvador, Brazil
1985 Gallery Flexa - Salvador, Brazil
1985 Latin-American Arts and Culture Festival - Brasilia, Brazil
1984 Afro-Brazilian Museum - Salvador, Brazil
1984 Desembanco Club - Salvador, Brazil
1984 Gallery 13 - Salvador, Brazil |
