Raul Mourão (born 24 August 1967, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is an artist. His artwork includes the production of drawings, sculptures, videos, texts, installations and performances.
Chronology
Early years
During his childhood his first contacts with art are through visits to museums with his family and through observing the paintings and drawings that his father does as a hobby. In his adolescence, he developed an interest for cinema, literature, music and sports. In the second half of the 1980s he participated in workshops on cinema theory at the Estação Botafogo Cine Club. He also participated in photography courses. His contact with different cultural spheres and his interest in the poetics of the street and the city became fundamental to the development of his work.
the '80s
In 1986 he begins his studies as an undergraduate in journalism at the Hélio Alonso Faculty and enrolled himself on the "Creative blocks" painting course organised by Charles Watson at the School of Visual Arts of Parque Lage (EAV-Parque Lage), Rio de Janeiro. He begins training at the independent production company Multivideo, in Santa Teresa, where he operates cameras and uses an editing suite for the first time.
In 1988 he transferred to the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Santa Úrsula, Rio de Janeiro, where he restarted taking lessons at EAV-Parque Lage. During this period the EAV-Parque Lage was under the direction of the art critic Frederico de Morais.
Over the next three years, Mourão attended the school participating in courses and producing small exhibitions. During this same period he met and socialised with other students such as Afonso Tostes, Ana Rondon, Augusto Herkernhoff, Cabelo, Cassia Castro, Daniel Feingold, José Bechara, José Damasceno, Marcelo Rocha, Marcia Thompson and Tatiana Grinberg amongst others. During this period he also became close friends with the artists of the so-called Generation 80 such as Alex Hamburguer, Alexandre Dacosta, Analu Cunha, André Costa, Barrão, Márcia X., Marcus André, Marcos Chaves, Luiz Zerbini, Ricardo Basbaum, Ricardo Becker, Ricardo Maurício and Roberto Tavares amongst others.
The '90s
In 1990 he transferred to study architecture at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He shared a studio for a short period with José Damasceno. During this time the artist did his first three dimensional experiments producing sculptures and objects such as Cream cracker and Ovo-violão. In a partnership with Damasceno they created the fictitious artist Cafew.
In 1991 he participated in the 15th Rio de Janeiro Art Salon at EAV-Parque Lage. He presents three drawings using oil on paper and receives second place in the competition where the jury consisted of the art critics Frederico Morais, Ligia Canongia, Marcus de Lontra Costa, Paulo Venâncio Filho and Reynaldo Roels.
In the beginning of 1992 he shared a studio with Angelo Venosa, Cassia Castro, José Bechara and Luiz Pizarro located in a large house in Glória neighborhood, Rio de Janeiro.
That year he enrolled in the course "Aspects of modern sensibility" that the art critic Paulo Venancio Filho offered at the University of Santa Úrsula. This became an important experience for Mourão, especially regarding the reflection on art and on his own work. He met the cinema director Roberto Berliner and initiated a partnership that during the 1990s allowed Mourão to do the co-direction and art direction of video pieces (of artists such as Skank, Paralamas do Sucesso, Lobão and Pedro Luís e a Parede amongst others) and documentaries such as the "Som da rua" series and "A pessoa é para o que nasce".
In 1993 he created, with the artist Barrão, the scenery for the TV program "Básico Instinto" about the writer and composer Fausto Fawcett. With Marcos Chaves and the designer Sônia Barreto he formed 2D, a graphic art company. He participated in the 17th Rio de Janeiro Art Salon at the EAV - Parque Lage where he presented the sculpture "Sem título" that is reminiscent of a penalty situation in the game of football. It was the first work of the artist that created a dialogue with sport of football. In November at the invitation of Everaldo Miranda, he presented "Humano", his first individual exhibition at the Sérgio Porto Cultural Space, Rio de Janeiro. The artist presented works using marble, iron, glass and water.