Fernando Zarif: Antes de Começar Termino

Antes de Começar Termino [Before beginning I end it], first solo show by Fernando Zarif (1960 – 2010, São Paulo) at Luciana Brito Galeria, works as a provocation for a deeper dive into the body of work of the artist. Titled after one of the several texts written by the artist, the exhibition comprises around 15 pieces, and allows the viewer to get in contact with the relevance that the drawing retained in Zarif’s artistic process and with the plurality of forms that his drawing could take.

Averse to publicizing his own work, Fernando Zarif had his production somewhat eclipsed by the power of his persona, and he ended up being mostly known by his magnetic personality and the influence he held over many artists, musicians, actors, poets and journalists. Since his passing, his extensive production has been attaining increased awareness, specially due to the efforts of Project Fernando Zarif, created by his family in 2011 to preserve and promote his work.

Contemporary of the so called 1980 generation, Fernando Zarif developed his artistic production without regard to the trends of his time, characterized by the professionalization of artists in a circuit of increasing institutionalization. Zarif was never interested in circumscribing his activity to what was then a blooming art market, and had an independent production not only in several media, but also in different fields: he’s author of paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, performances, concertos, music album’s covers, operas, music and video-installations.