Art World Tries to Explain Disapproval of Works by Romero Britto

05/04/2015 - 12h06

Romero Britto, 51, of Pernambuco, is a sweet person. "If I were a dish, I would be strawberry macaron of Ladurée", he says over the phone from Miami, adding a "yummm" as he remembers the delicacy franchised by the famous French bakery.

His critics, on the other hand, are bitter. They compare his multicolored pictures, sculptures and sundries to fast food and refuse to call him an "artist."

Britto, who considered becoming a lawyer at the age of 20, is judged by the Fine Arts Court every single day. The "court" includes artists, gallery owners, critics and auctioneers who struggle to reach a decision: is what he makes art or not?

Folha tried to interview 22 representatives of the art world to understand why the sweetheart of much of the public is so rejected among his pairs. Half of them refused to speak. "It makes you look bad," said the assistant of an important gallery owner in São Paulo.

Harming Britto's reputation is easy. Jones Bergamin, the director of Bolsa de Arte, one of the biggest auction agencies in the country, says "he has become a snowball. He is getting richer and richer and selling more and more. And he is also becoming more and more hated. If you go to a friend's house and he has a Romero Britto, he could end up being labeled as a person with bad taste."

Those who defend Britto question the power of the "high culture" which has established that Britto's value is that of a footnote painting.

"Mozart's operas were popular, and the intelligentsia of the time didn't like him," says Gonçalo Ivo, who is considered one of Brazil's top colorists. Ivo, who was born in Rio but lives in France, says the repulsion proves that "the art world is full of jerks."

Mr. Britto thanks for the support, but he wouldn't use that kind of language. All he wants is to "creates images of love and hope."

It isn't enough to simply cross your arms and say "because I just don't" when someone asks you why you don't like Romero Britto's works. When asked to explain what made him the laughing stock among his pairs, the artistic "métier" stresses two arguments.

1) He disobeys the rules of the art world. Britto allegedly skipped phases as he waivered the "seal of quality" of a Biennial exhibition and decided to irradiate his legacy through his own gallery, as if he were saying: "Thanks, but I can do it myself."

2) He merges business and art. Selling sundries should be the job of a souvenir shop in a museum. A "serious artist" wouldn't launch a "Shopping Guide for Mother's Day" on the online "Britto Shop" - with items that range from a canvas handbag with "flying hearts" (US$ 50) to a cookie jar decorated with bears (US$ 75).

However, the aesthetical value of his works isn't much criticized as it is a matter of opinion, although all of those interviewed (including those who defend Britto) refuse to hang one of his paintings on their wall or wrap in a sarong made by Britto, [with the exception of writer Paulo Coelho].

WHO DECIDES?

"A complex system comprised of many units defines what art is: artists, curators, gallery owners, professors, intellectuals," says the art critic of Folha, Fabio Cypriano. "A consensus is necessary and also to be present in private collections and museums, as well as to be represented by famous galleries. Having your own gallery doesn't mean you are a member."

Charles Cosac, the owner of the biggest art book publishing house in Brazil, Cosac Naify, laughs when told that this "virtually harmless" art is in the spotlight. The question, he says, is simple: "Those who don't like it don't have to look at it."

The idea that Britto's art could be re-signified in the future frightens some people. "His works are the fast food of fine art. The mass consumes multicolored cats more easily in much the same way that there are more people drinking cachaça in comparison with those who like Romanée Conti wine", says Pedro Mastrobuono, the director of Instituto Volpi.

Artist Gonçalo Ivo calls for a "São Paulo full of prejudice, that thinks it is New York," to be more sober.

"The fact that he is from the Northeast of Brazil works against him - a man from Pernambuco living in Miami and making lots of money," he says.

If Britto considers Miami -where even parking meters are colored in his style- "Brittoland," he has already established conclaves of his art in other cities around the world.

He has 64 installations in public areas, including more than a dozen "larger-than-life" structures in airports. Suitcases customized by him are checked in and sent to the five continents -Lena Dunham, the creator of the series "Girls", has been seen with one-.

Cosac says that exposing the formal limits of art may be avant-garde as in the example he cites: the cans with the "Merda d'Artista" (Artist's Shit) that Italian artist Piero Manzoni (1933-1963) sold.

The problem is that Britto allegedly doesn't "give a shit" for the conventions for the wrong reasons. He allegedly replicates a formula to make a profit, not to question the status quo, like artist Andy Warhol did.

"He has reached 100% rejection of our market," says Jones Bergamin, of Bolsa de Arte -he believes Britto "was hallucinating when he self-proclaimed his style pop"-.

Auctioneer James Lisboa of Escritório de Arte - which has artists like Portinari, Adriana Varejão and Beatriz Milhazes in its catalogue - believes some people are "jealous of his financial success." He uses Britto "as a reference for the other artists." "I don't think that you have to suffer, sell very little. Quite the opposite, you really should be rich."

And that is a trade that Britto knows very well. "He should be a marketing professor instead of a painting teacher," says Lisboa.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

Read the article in the original language