Brazilian Art Brut creator, born in 1939 or 1943 (sources differ) in the state of Ceará, in north-eastern Brazil, died in 2015.
Life
As a young man, Raimundo Camilo left his native region for Rio de Janeiro, where he went from one precarious job to another on building sites and in kitchens. When an employer refused to pay him, he found himself on the street, penniless and disoriented.
In 1964 he entered the Colônia Juliano Moreira, a psychiatric hospital in Rio, where he stayed for some fifty years before being taken in by his sister. There he mixed with Arthur Bispo do Rosário, interned in the same institution and since recognised as the major figure of Brazilian Art Brut.
The work
Camilo drew imaginary banknotes, often on both sides, kneeling in front of his bed. He worked on whatever came to hand: packaging, administrative forms, printed papers. He used felt-tip, ballpoint, gouache and colours he made himself, from coffee for instance.
Each note bears a head, sometimes that of a king, sometimes that of a cangaceiro, the nomadic bandit of the Nordeste who became a folk hero. He readily gave these notes to members of staff he liked, especially women. He himself refused to speak of art: he said he was simply doing his “duty”.
Exhibitions and collections
- Museu Oscar Niemeyer (Brazil), 2005, alongside Arthur Bispo do Rosário
- First presentation in Europe: exhibition “objet trouvé”, Galerie christian berst, Paris, 2008
- “Living in Art Brut”, Hannah Rieger collection, museumkrems (Austria), 2017
- “Art brut. Dans l’intimité d’une collection. La Donation Decharme au Centre Pompidou”, Grand Palais, Paris, 2025
- Public collections: Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou (Bruno Decharme donation, 2021); LaM, Villeneuve-d’Ascq; Museu Oscar Niemeyer