Ce que les gens disent à propos de Totonho e son travail

Alain Bertrand, Consul Honoraire du Brésil au Strasbourg, France: “La culture brésilienne n’est pas simplement le fruit des apports spécifiques des blancs européens, des noirs africains et des indiens. Elle est aujourd’hui un mix de ces influences, lesquelles ont imprégné en profondeur la manière de voir, de sentir et d’agir des Brésiliens. C’est le cas de Totonho qui dans son art de la peinture naïve exprime avec beaucoup de charme son ressenti et sa sensibilité vis-à-vis de la nature de son pays. Un dépaysement garanti dans la foret et la faune amazonienne.”

Roland Issenlor, President Syro D’Arts, Lautenbach Zell, France: “We unanimously recognize Totonho’s great talent for perfection through his poignant themes. He is one of those exceptional artists who truly touch a large public, which acquires his work with a strong sense of having made the right choice.”

Robert Irving III, composer & visual artist, Chicago, USA: “Totonho’s obvious sensitivity to and understanding of form, light and shadow majestically actualized yet another masterpiece, transforming a flat canvas into a dreamscape of nature that one could walk into. Like a channel for the Earth Mother herself, Totonho’s paintings are replete with the same commensurate splendor as Earth herself possesses.”

Chang Ge Aaronson, Stride Arts Gallery, New York, USA: « Totonho’s paintings not only celebrate the beauty and purity of nature, they also redeem one’s hope and inspire viewers to love and protect our environment, and to dream and to strive for a better ecological future. »

Roberto Dutesco, photographer, New York, USA: “Totonho’s naive, primitive, picturesque style, as many call it, is just playfully real to me. His canvases invite us in, the same way, giving us a chance to observe and to contemplate, as we sit on the edge of disaster, what is important and what is at stake.”

Renate Kurz, Südwestbank AG Stuttgart: “We are very happy that we could show Totonho’s paintings in an exhibition in our head office in Stuttgart, November 2012- January 2013. No observer can escape the fascination of Totonho’s works (even the parrots shown have a facial expression), painted meticulously. The emotional touch is enormous.”

Sue Powell, Director Anne Lloyd Gallery, Decatur, Illinois, USA: “We thank Totonho for his commitment to the riches of this earth and for his generosity in sharing his passions – art and ecology – across the globe. He sets an example for us all – young and old, advantaged and disadvantaged – that we can tap into our creativity to change our own lives, to reach out to others and to make the world a better place.”

Larcenia Green [12 years], Decatur, Illinois, USA: “I enjoyed learning from Totonho. I now carry a deeper appreciation for nature and artistic endeavors, and I know you can paint your feelings.”

Mrs. Bickers, Decatur, Illinois, USA: “I was happy to be able to bring my grandchildren to the Anne Lloyd Gallery to see great art and an important story.”

James Bickers [14], Decatur, Illinois, USA: “The story made me understand the true devastation we are dealing with.”

Sheri Chris, Decatur, Illinois, USA: “The essence of peace, love, and concern for nature and the environment are evident in your gift of painting. May God, the creator of all we see, continue to advance your gift.

Ulrich von Eitzen, Greenpeace International, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: “When I saw Totonho’s paintings in a small gallery in the heart of Amsterdam, I felt carried away into a place of emotion and beauty. His pictures, in their very own way, articulate the artistic responsibility to protect this bigger global common. The viewer will be rewarded with a fantastic journey not only to the Amazon rainforest, but also to his own dreams. And he will be struck by an immediate and deep understanding of why the criminal destruction of this globally vital rainforest needs to be stopped.”

Luís López ‘Gabu’, photographer, A Coruña, Spain: “Totonho changed Brazilian primitive painting. With his technique he created a personal and unique style that was given many names by the critics: neo-naïve, Totonism, post-naïve or super-realistic naïve. With an extremely refined design and coloring, Totonho’s work subtly and elegantly explores the inside of a forest of emotions, filling the canvas with an Amazon rainforest full of shades and beauty.”

Abílio A. Ferreira, professor of Aesthetic and Theory of Communication, Porto, Portugal: “Coming into contact with the overflowing painting of Totonho it is difficult for us to stay indifferent. It is pleasant to the eyes, a reason of preoccupation for the mind. His works are a living example of the beauty of virgin bushes as well as de depressing devastation of the bushes of the Atlantic.”

Ánxeles Penas in “El Ideal Gallego”, A Coruña, Spain: “Totonho has brought the entire splendor and exuberance of the Amazon jungle to gallery Arte Imagen, with an exhibition entitled “Discurso Ecológico”. The title implicates a double purpose: show us the beauty and the natural power of the environment in which he was born, and bring to consciousness the drama that the disappearance of such genetic wealth would mean.”

Joaquín Lens in “La Voz de Galicia”, A Coruña, Spain: “Totonho is a very interesting primitive painter, who in his exhibition “Discurso Ecológico”, unfolds all the colorful and ingenuous beauty typical for that picturesque style. A jungly nature of intense beauty and shiny colors inhabits his works, in which the red or the yellow of the birds stand out on the emerald green of trees and plants that fill up, and even overtake his canvases.”

Luc Vermeir, manager CGER Bank, Brussels, Belgium:”During the dark months of November and December, Totonho’s paintings bring us the beauty and luminosity of Brazil. His paintings are sensitive and refined, full of life and happy colors, and show his preoccupation with nature.”

Kimberly Ferreira, ADI Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA: “A look at Totonho’s vanishing rainforest paintings is like a look into his very soul. He not only wants the public to perceive the beauty of the tropical rain forests in his artistic revelation, he also wants to depict the very depressing reality of the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.”

Leslie M. Brown, Artistic Director Parkway School, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA: “On behalf of Parkway School of the Arts, I want to thank you for the workshop featuring the art and music from Brazil. The students and teachers both were very impressed with the skill and techniques imparted to our students, and the sense of dedication that was portrayed to our young artists. Thanks for a fantastic experience!”