Talk – Helcio Barros and Vilanismo – Vilanismo celebrates Helcio Barros
On November 30, the talk Vilanismo celebrates Helcio Barros, with Helcio Barros and Vilanismo, will take place. The event features the participation of Renan Teles, representing Vilanismo, and runs from 4:30 pm to 6 pm in the Invocations space on the second floor of the Pavilion.
On the occasion of their participation in the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, the brotherhood Vilanismo is promoting a fundamental intergenerational gathering. The talk Vilanismo celebrates Helcio Barros is both a tribute and an act of historical repair dedicated to a master who inspires them. Helcio Barros, a visual artist and writer born in 1956, has maintained a powerful and active practice since the 1980s, moving fluidly between drawing, painting, photography, and political cartoons. Despite his trajectory and the relevance of his work, marked by a critical approach to Brazil, Barros is an example of a Black artist whose career has been systematically rendered invisible by the official art circuit. Using the visibility of the Bienal, Vilanismo proposes an attentive look at the production of this master. The gathering will feature the participation of Renan Teles, who will lead a presentation of Helcio Barros’s work and career, celebrating his legacy and his ongoing influence on new generations of artists.
Helcio Barros is a visual artist and writer born in 1956 in Rio de Janeiro and currently living in São Paulo. He holds a degree in Film from UFF and studied at the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts. He moves fluidly between painting, drawing, and literature, with a body of work shaped by an imagery that oscillates between the real and the fantastic. His practice is deeply influenced by his film background and by a critical view of contemporary Brazil, with a strong interest in atmospheres, narratives, and social complexity. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions since 1983.
Vilanismo (founded in 2021, São Paulo) is a collective of twelve Black men focused on creating spaces of resistance and affirmation within the art circuit. They value ancestral knowledge, Afro-Indigenous experiences, and collaborative construction, emphasizing autonomy and sustainable approaches. Through their work, they reject historical stereotypes and fetishes imposed on Black bodies, subverting normative expectations and celebrating cultural abundance. The group has participated in events such as Baile do Vilanismo (Edifício Misericórdia, São Paulo) and the “Black Masculinities” conversation-performance (Instituto Moreira Salles, São Paulo). It is now made up of Diego Crux, Ramo, Renan Teles, Carinhoso, Guto Oca, Rodrigo Zaim, Rafa Black, Robson Marques, Denis Moreira, and Daniel Ramos.
This participation is supported by The Order of New Arts.
Service
Talk – Helcio Barros and Vilanismo – Vilanismo celebrates Helcio Barros
36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice
Nov 30, 2025
Sun, 4:30 pm
Invocations space, 2nd floor
Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo
Parque Ibirapuera, gate 3
São Paulo, SP
free admission