Leonilson

José Leonilson Bezerra Dias (b. 1957 Fortaleza, Ceará – d. 1993 São Paulo, São Paulo), was a Brazilian artist working in both 2D as a painter and draughtsman and in 3D as textile worker and sculptor. He lived most of his life in Brazil where he created conceptual artworks focused on expressions of love and grief specifically from a queer-lens. Leonilson was diagnosed with HIV (AIDS) at the age of 34, and died a few years later from complications.

Career In 1961, Leonilson moved with his family to São Paulo, Brazil where he later started studying art education at Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado in 1977. Additionally, Leonilson studied under Nelson Leirner (1932–2020) who influenced him through his use of allegorical (and sometimes also erotic) artworks focused on political and social criticisms. Later, Leonilson studied under Dudi Maia Rosa (1946- ) at the Aster Art School where, again, the use of materials beyond paint and sculpture were emphasized in their importance in expressing universal themes through an alternative mode.

Leonilson briefly traveled in Europe, and in the early 1980s he interacted with Transavantgarde scene, Italy specific neo-expressionism, that had completely different focus for their artwork than the conceptual art movement at that time in Brazil. The impact of his artwork was deeply felt within certain marginalized communities as it represented and affirmed queer identities – counter-cultural to authoritarian powers at the time like Brazil's military dictatorship and the Catholic Church.

Further in his career, Leonilson began to include the use of fabrics and sewing. This shift to textiles and 3D forms was originally inspired by artists who utilized fabrics to convey societal message like Hélio Oiticica's in their artwork Parangolé.

Leonilson died of complications from HIV on March 28, 1993, in São Paulo. He was posthumously awarded in 1994 by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics for his artworks and contributions. Much of his artwork is recognized for its historical importance in chronicling and visually representing individuals affected by the AIDs epidemic in museums and collections in the years following his death. The merely empty white fabric, now a stand-in for his body, manifests personal disfigurements through stitched black scars and a clear indication of his age. These two handstitched components atop his "body" allude to the title of the piece as well as allegorize his illness and condition by depicting biological and visceral images.

Through this artwork, Leonilson connected himself with, synthesized, and subsequently subverted historical narratives and modes of artmaking. Starting with the mythology of this piece, O Penelope is in direct conversation with the story of Penelope who waits for her husband Odysseus to return home after the Trojan War (as told in Homer's Odyssey). With Odysseus not immediately returning after the war, Penelope was pressured by suitors to remarry. She tells the men that she cannot do so until she finishes weaving a shroud to present to her father-in-law as was customary to pay respect to Odysseus who was presumed dead. She worked on the project for many days on end. However, in order to prevent herself from finishing it, she secretly undid that day's work at night to stall for Odysseus' return as long as she could.

- 2004 – "MoMA at El Museo: Latin American and Caribbean Art from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art" – (March 4 – July 25)

- 2006 – "Transforming Chronologies: An Atlas of Drawing, Part Two" – (May 10 – October 2)

- 2008 – "New Perspectives in Latin American Art" – (November 21 – February 25)

- 2008–2009 – "Here Is Everything. Four Decades of Contemporary Art" – (September 10 – March 23)

- 2010–2011 – "Contemporary Art from the Collection" – (June 30 – Sep 19)

- 2011 – "I Am Still Alive: Politics and Everyday Life in Contemporary Drawing" – (March 23 – September 19)