biography
Raimundo Camilo was born in the state of Ceará in north-eastern Brazil in 1939 or 1943, depending on the source. He left his home region at an early age to work in Rio as a “slave”, as the Brazilian expression has it, taking menial jobs on building sites, in kitchens, and so on. He broke off from his old life as a result of one of these jobs, when one of his employers failed to pay him his due, forcing him to begin eking out a precarious existence on the streets of Rio. He ended up in the Colonia Juliano Moreira psychiatric hospital in 1964, and never left.
One of his fellow patients, Arturo Bispo do Rosario, later became the leading representative of Art Brut in Brazil. Haunted by his past difficulties, Raimundo began kneeling by his bed to draw his own bank notes. He uses whatever media came to hand, from paper packaging to administrative forms, and makes his own colours using materials such as coffee. The head on the front of the bank notes represents either a king or a cangaceiro bandit. He willingly shares the notes with his favourite members of hospital staff, particularly women. He claims not to be producing art, but rather doing his job.
The Brazilian cultural authorities have become increasingly aware of the significance of his creations in recent years, and they have been featured in several exhibitions and a catalogue. His works have recently been acquired by the Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art and were exhibited in 2005 at the museum Oscar Niemeyer (Brésil). He was first shown in Europe at Christian Berst's gallery "objet trouvé" in 2008.
selective exhibitions
drawing now art fair, le carreau du temple, from march 27 to 30, 2019.
éric benetto: in excelsis, cabinet of curiosities, christian berst art brut gallery, paris, from january 26th to march 2nd, 2019.
drawing now art fair, le carreau du temple, from march 22th to 25th 2018.
potency and adversity, art from latin america in the portuguese collection, from november 12th 2017 to january 7th 2018, galerias municipais and museu de lisboa, lisbon, portugal.
the museum of everything, from june 10th, 2017, to april 2nd, 2018, mona (museum of old and new art), berriedale, australia.
living in art brut, 123 works from the hannah rieger collection, museumkrems, krems an der donau, austria, from september 8th to october 26th, 2017.
art brut : a story of individual mythologies, oeuvres de la collection treger saint silvestre, oliva creative factory, são joão da madeira, 18th june to 28th february 2017.
du nombril au cosmos, autour de la collection abcd/bruno decharme, musée art&marges, Bruxelle du 25 septembre 2015 au 24 janvier 2016.
art brut live, dox centre for contemporary art, prague, march 27th - august 17th 2015.
art brut, collection abcd/bruno decharme, à la maison rouge, du 17 octobre 2014 au 18 janvier 2015.
rentrée hors les normes 2012, découvertes et nouvelles acquisitions à la galerie christian berst art brut paris, du 08 septembre au 13 octobre 2012.
outsider art fair, 7 west 34th street nyc du 11 au 13 février 2011.
salon du dessin contemporain, drawing now caroussel du louvre du 25 au 28 mars 2011.
salon du dessin contemporain, à la galerie christian berst paris du 19 mars au 24 mars 2009.
une rentrée hors-les-normes 2009, découvertes & nouvelles acquisitions à la galerie christian berst art brut paris du 11 septembre au 17 octobre 2009.
selective bibliography
exhibition catalogue, living in art brut, 123 works from the hannah rieger collection, museumkrems, bad vöslau, austria, 2017.
exhibition catalogue, art brut, collection abcd / bruno decharme, paris, la maison rouge, ed. flammarion, 2014.
exhibition catalogue, colecção treger-saint silvestre, paris, christian berst art brut ed., 2014.
"raimundo camilo", in kunst, die verbindet, text by christian berst, vienna, hannah rieger ed., 2014.
exhibition catalogue, rentrée hors-les-normes 2012: découvertes et nouvelles acquisitions, paris, christian berst art brut ed., 2012.
exhibition catalogue, everything # 4, london, the museum of everything, 2011.
exhibition catalogue, rentrée hors-les-normes 2009: découvertes et nouvelles acquisitions, paris, galerie christian berst art brut, 10 septembre - 17 octobre 2009.
exhibition catalogue,+3, curitiba (brazil), museu oscar niemeyer, 2005.
selective collections
- LaM, musée d'art moderne, d'art contemporain et d'art brut de Lille Métropole, Villeneuve d'Ascq (France)
- Arnulf Rainer collection, Vienne (Austria)
- abcd collection, montreuil (France)
- Treger Saint Silvestre collection, Porto (Portugal)
- Bispo do Rosario Museum, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
- Dammann collection, Bâle (Switzerland)
- Hannah Rieger collection, Vienne (Austria)
- Amr Shaker collection, Genève (Switzerland)
