João Aguair was born in Brazil in 1974. After graduating in Theology and Philosophy, he continues his studies in History of Art, seeking beauty in the theories of the great classical philosophers. He moves to Italy in 2003 where he attends the School of Art and Design. Aguiar takes the first steps in the world of pottery in the atelier of Mimma Russo Frattasi and then continues as a self-taught, experimenting the Raku technique which offered him infinite creative stimulus.

J. Aguiar’s works fully reflect his great sensibility, shaping emotions and recurring experiences typical of the human condition into art pieces. With his creations, Aguiar encompasses some very important artistic topics. Baroque is without a doubt one of the artistic movements that has influenced him the most. According to Aguiar, Baroque style is the epitome of the beauty that surrounds us but that ,at the same time, emphasises our smallness in comparison to its majesty. Furthermore, it reminds us of our fleeting life since it passes rapidly and only beauty and art perpetuate in time. For this reason, the shortness of life can also be considered as a concurring topic in Aguiar’s pieces. Shortness of life not to be intended in a pessimistic way but more as a chance to celebrate its rarity and beauty. His messages are given to us through his ceramics and sculptures which aim to give an artistic shape to the natural elements such as the sea that symbolises for instance the origin of life as well as the separation from his homeland. In Aguiar’s work, it was improbable there not to be some reminiscences of saudade, namely the melancholia and homesickness that all Brazilians feel when they are far away from their country. Aguiar expresses this feeling depicting plants and flowers that remind him of Brazil. Lastly, but not least important, the philosophy of fragmentation, according to which the cracks and the gaps between the different parts that compose an art piece give the chance to the observer to focus and understand each of these fragments. Only this way one can reach a full comprehension of the piece. The understanding of each detail leads to the comprehension of the whole.

Exhibitions: Individual art exhibition. Ostuni, 2015 / Individual and collective RAKU exhibition, Fondazione Palmieri Gallery. Lecce, 2016 / Individual Baroque exhibition, Fondazione Palmieri Gallery. Lecce, 2017 / Collective art show, Fondazione Palmieri Gallery. Lecce, 2018 / Self-promotional “incontro con l’artista” exhibition. Atelier dell’artista Via del mare. Lecce, 2014, 2015, 2016.