RAFAEL ALONSO: A CABEÇA DE JORGINHO (the head of Little Jorge)

The exhibition A cabeça de Jorginho [The Head of Little Jorge], by the artist Rafael Alonso, opens at Galeria Marília Razuk on the 17th of June, from 11 am to 4 pm. The show consists of a set of interventions in the gallery’s architecture, with paintings made directly on the walls, and about thirty unseen works, in various shapes, sizes, and materials. What the works have in common are the intersections they draw between certain repertoires from the field of art and a mundane aesthetic that relates to the typical Brazilian imagery of tropicality, beaches, and sport. This is Rafael Alonso’s first solo exhibition at Galeria Marília Razuk, which has represented the artist since 2021. It is also the artist’s first show in São Paulo in five years, the last being in 2018.

But what is in Little Jorge’s head? In it, it seems, the austerity of abstract forms, judgments on pictorial designs, and rules of “good taste” are trampled by vibrant combinations of colors, including fluorescent ones; by the clichéd “natural spectacle” of the light at sunset in coastal skies; by the gradients printed on endless objects from surf visual culture; by objects discarded and collected from the streets; by 1980s pop songs on FM radio; by the technological aspect of openings of Rede Globo television shows; by images of hyper-colorful macaws, in full flight; by bodies, swimming shorts, bikinis, and shades with mirrored lenses on sunbathers on Rio de Janeiro beaches; and, embedded in there, Phil Collins, Hans Donner, Renato Gaúcho...

The critical thinking that fuels Rafael Alonso’s work is incisive and, yes, does imply humor. The exhibition title refers to a character the artist created; Little Jorge, a “young” and “reckless” painter, son of Mother Market and Father History. But it is Grandma Painting who spoils the kid. She is always at his beck and call and giving him goodies, like the delicious cake of a winter landscape, with plenty of creamy paint, in blue and white. Little Jorge likes adrenaline and speed, drives a motorbike, practices jiu-jitsu, and only does what he likes. For him, “there are no morals, no conflicts, only fluctuations.” Wait, did someone say this was “contemporary art”?

Alonso wrote the story of Little Jorge for a chapter in his doctoral thesis, which he presented last year at the Escola de Belas Artes [School of Fine Arts] at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro]. In this show, the narrative is spoken by a female voice, playing out of the speakers that comprise one of the works, Stardust Memories (2023). A black and white painting completes the work, with representations of the Banco Nacional logo, created by artist and graphic designer Aloísio Magalhães in the early 1970s. The logo for the now-extinct bank became popular worldwide through sports, printed on the

car, helmet, and clothing of Formula 1 pilot Ayrton Senna, who became a national hero in the late 1980s. All these facts and images make up the head of Little Jorge.