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Andre Cypriano
Andre' Cypriano
His powerful images speak for themselves. His work represents everything we desire from an artist who is collected worldwide.
Rochina limited hardcover edition now available at the gallery.
A n d r é C y p r i a n o
A native of Brazil, André Cypriano was born in 1964 and educated in São Paulo with a university degree in business administration. Concerned with environmental issues, he contributed time and effort as the administrator of "Salva Mar" Save the Sea - a Brazilian organization dedicated to save the whales in North Brazil.
In 1990, one year after relocating to the U.S., André began to study photography in San Francisco. He has since completed several projects which have been exhibited in several galleries and museums in Brazil, the USA and Europe.
André has been a recipient of the first place award in San Francisco City College's Photography Department of Scholarship (July 1992), the World Image Award Competition promoted by Photo District News in N.Y. (Dec. 1992), New Works Awards - promoted by En Foco in N.Y. (July 1998), Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography (Sep.1999), Bolsa Vitae de Artes in São Paulo (Jan. 2002), Caracas Think Tank (Jan. 2003), as well as All Roads Photography Program from National Geographic Society (Oct. 2005).
As part of a long term project, Cypriano began to document traditional lifestyles and practices of lesser known societies in remote corners of the world with a slant toward the unique and unusual. Thus far, he has photographed the people of Nias, an island off the northwest coast of Sumatra (Nias - Jumping Stones), the dogs of Bali (Spiritual Quest), the infamous penitentiary of Candido Mendes, in Rio de Janeiro (The Devil's Caldron – book published by Cosac & Naify), the largest shanty town in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro (Rocinha – book published by SENAC Editoras), as well as the most important shanty towns of Rio de Janeiro and Caracas (The Culture of the Informal Cities). His ongoing projects have been used in educational workshops.
Currently, André Cypriano works as a free-lance photographer in New York and Rio, and continues to be involved in social and cultural activities.
A N D R É C Y P R I A N O
Place of birth: São Paulo, Brazil
Award-winning documentary phototographer
AWARDS
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September 2005 National Geographic, All Roads Photography Program
Washington, D.C. - USA
March 2003 Caracas Case Project, Federal Cultural Foundation of Germany and Caracas Think Tank
Caracas, CCS - Venezuela
January 2002 Bolsa Vitae de Artes
São Paulo, SP - Brazil
June 1999 Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography
San Francisco, CA - USA
July 1998 En Foco, New Works Award
New York, NY - USA
November 1996 Lifetouch, Portrait Excellence Award
Burlingame, CA - USA
December 1992 PDN, World Image Awards
New York, NY - USA
July 1992 San Francisco City College, Photography Department Scholarship
San Francisco, CA - USA
SOLO EXHIBITS
May 2006 Centro Cultural Caixa
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
February 2006 Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
5th Bienal of Photograph and Visual Arts of Liege
Liege – Belgian
September 2003 Museum of Contemporary Arte of Caracas – Sala Cadafe
Caracas, CCS - Venezuela
January 2003 Galeria dos Arcos – Usina do Gasômetro
Forum Social Mundial
Porto Alegre, RS – Brazil
September 2002 Polo Cultural da FUNDACC
Caraguatatuba, SP – Brazil
A N D R É C Y P R I A N O page 2
May 2002 Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo
São Paulo, SP – Brazil
May 2002 FNAC Campinas
Campinas, SP – Brazil
December 2001 FNAC Rio
Rio de Janeiro, RJ – Brazil
September 2001 FNAC São Paulo
São Paulo, SP – Brazil
March 2000 Galeria Amigos do Vinho
Rocinha, RJ - Brazil
January 1997 College of Marin Photo Department
Kentfield, CA - USA
July 1996 Global Exchange - International Children's Resource Institute
Berkeley, CA – USA
June 1994 Exposed Gallery
San Francisco, CA - USA
September 1993 Penitenciaria Candido Mendes
Rocinha - An Orphan Town
Rocinha is the largest “favela”, or shantytown in Brazil. It spreads from the top to the bottom of a mountain. Ironically, it is surrounded by wealth. Because the 2500 residents of this neighborhood has been neglected by the government, they have set up their own survival system, one ruled by drug- trafficking. What makes this community so captivating to document is how clearly this criminal system both terrorizes and supports the people of the slum.
It is an understatement to say that the living conditions in the slum is so unsanitary that it is surprising that the
residents can stay healthy. Garbage, trash and litter of all kinds clog the streets and alleys. During rainstorms,
contaminants flow in filthy rivers downhill from the favelas into the ocean below.
The resultant violence is so extreme that these days, when a shoot-out erupts between different criminal factions, children continue to play, refusing shelter, inured by the frequency of such activities. Despite all this, nothing is being done to change life in the favela. As a result, the violence has grown to a point where it is defining Rio de Janeiro globally.
By documenting Rocinha, I want to address the global conundrum that we all must face. That is, when a community has been, for all intents and purposes, ostracized from a larger political and societal framework, how much can we, as outsiders, question the resulting criminal system, especially when that same system, while detrimental to the
residents, also supports and provides for them
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