The Birth of Venus in Modern Times | 2015 | ink on paper | 59.4 x 84.1 cm | original in private collection.
I developed it my own way, selecting deities I relate to and that reflected best my home country of Brazil, and todays world: hostile, selfish and depreciated. I thus contradict the traditional meaning of the original painting, which represents purer connotations & virtues. I worked throughout two years on this drawing and as this work has been in progress for many months, I naturally developed ideas as I progressed.
This piece became very important in my career when in July 2022, Misan Harriman collected this artwork as a NFT to be part of the prestigious Tezos Foundation Permanent Art Collection. In the occasion, Misan recorded this moment in a video that went viral and changed my trajectory in the NFT community forever. The Birth of Venus in Modern Times is also part of the first showcase of the Tezos Foundation Permanent Art Collection (PAC) build on oncyber.
In the image below we see Neptune, the most tempestuous of the gods, pointing his trident at Venus as he charges on an equestrian wave towards her – a hostile reception into the new world. He is covered in tattoos making an analogy to sailors and the tradition of marking our bodies with imagery that we love.
A blindfolded Minerva, whose intelligent gaze normally penetrates darkness & obscurity, represents the disinterest in todays society to learn and better oneself as wisdom today is a rare and undervalued thing. My portrayal of Minerva was influenced by the anti-corruption riots & protests in Brazil during 2013.
Like in the original, my Venus is born in a scallop shell, generated by the foam of the sea, as she is pure, innocent; but the immediate world she encounters is a harsh one and everything around her is different, nevertheless she radiates and tries to maintain her innocence. Elsewhere, roses float in from the left-hand side of the page, on a long lost breeze from where Zephyr once was.
A fractured, modern skyline creates a foreboding backdrop torn between the heavens & space, day & night. In addition to what I have mentioned, there is additional symbolism in the accompanying elements – the dead fish & the animals to name a few.
Ceres, represents the rich natural bounty of the earth, in a world with so much hunger. Her basket full of fruits and wheat dress, was inspired by Sarah Burton's first collection for Alexander McQueen in the 2011, where you could see models walking with pheasant feathers, butterfly dresses and wheat- inspired corsets and dresses. Similarly I drew inspiration form the dress of Pomona – decorated in cornflowers.
