Brazilian artist Mario Cravo Neto’s photographic work is shown at the Rivington Place Gallery in an exhibition titled A Serene Expectation Of Light.

Cravo Neto’s work is profoundly informed by the religious practice of Candomblé – originating in West Africa, this spiritual worship spread to Brazil during the transatlantic slave trade between the sixteenth and nineteenth century. It especially flourished in the state of Bahia, which was the first region of Brazil to be colonised. This ancient sacred belief is ever-present within Brazil’s society and shines through its artistic and literary culture. Cravo Neto explores this universe that he himself knew so well, as a Candomblé believer and depicts this with two visually striking series of images entitled The Eternal Now and Laróyè.

The Eternal Now is a succession of studio photographs created by Cravo Neto between the 80s and 90s. The images, black and white, summoning ritualistic spirituality, blend the human and the animal, the living and its essence. Most of his subjects are devoid of their identity, the focus being held within the act of existing in a universal manner. Human and animal blend together, in a poetic textural way. These photographs come alive through the movement and ‘breath’ of a fleeting moment. Light becomes a connector to being alive, between the dark outlines of a human figure dotted with white paint appearing as a lifeline constellation and what is discerned as a turtle’s shell that the subject holds to his face. The carnal informs and confuses us with its texture and ambiguity.

Cravo Neto’s compositions are reminiscent of the still life with dead game paintings of Flemish and Danish painters life Frans Snyders and Melchior d’Hondecoeter during the 17th century where dead animals are represented as ritualistic hunting trophies usually accompanied by a play with shadows and light in a somber background. Cravo Neto’s work, touching on Candomblé’s ceremonial symbolism links with the themes of 17th and 18th century European still life painters in the quest to demonstrate objects and products brought back from crusades. There is a strong connotation of Candomblé’s Western African origins being brought and assembled within a new civilization due to slave trade and the communion of this cultural heritage forever bonding Bahia to Africa.

Cravo Neto’s second series, Laróyè, was created in the 2000s, at the end of his career. The word Laróyè in Candomblé is a salute to an Orisha (spirit that reflects God) named Exú. The colours representing this Orisha are black and red tied with the elements of earth and fire. Compared to an archangel or a fallen angel in Christianity, Exú is the first spirit to be called upon when initiating a Candomblé ritual. He is the one that withholds the power of communicating between humans and other spiritual entities. Exú is specifically unique to the Afro-Brazilian practice of Candomblé. It is said that Exú protects children, the abandoned and the helpless. He exists to shelter the people. Cravo Neto’s Laróyè series are dotted with the presence of Exú’s red and black identity.

Photographing Bahia’s people, bringing their spirituality forward amongst the streets of Salvador, Cravo Neto reminds us of a charged past that has shaped this culture to this day. During the transatlantic slave trade, the Portuguese colonies relied upon African workers to sustain their economy. Being cruelly exploited, these workers turned to Candomblé as a means to unify, give meaning and create a sense of community within their brutal daily lives. This community still flourishes today and it is through Cravo Neto’s images that one notices the deep significance of the past fiercely present as a fuel to life.

Não sou preto, branco ou vermelho
Tenho as cores e formas que quiser
Não sou diabo nem santo, sou exu!
(Mario Cravo Neto, Saudação a exu)

I am not black, white or red
I have the colours and shapes of my choice
I am not the devil or a saint, I am exu!
(Mario Cravo Neto, Exú salutation)