Abraão Batista

Abraão Batista (b. 1935) is one of the foremost authors of cordel, a venerable folk art from northeast Brazil. The cordel is a small booklet combining a handcarved woodcut image and a poem, both created by the artist. These booklets are cheaply produced on thin wood pulp paper and, hung from rope at the market, are sold for pennies—hence the term, cordel. The subjects of the cordels include folk tales, television and pop stars, religion and politics. Whether ancient or contemporary, the theme is always expressed in a 17th century Iberian stanza and rhyming form, testament to the geographic and cultural isolation of northeastern Brazil. Not taught in art schools, cordel is passed down through apprenticeships from generation to generation. Batista, whose cordels have been produced in the hundreds of thousands, collaborated with Graphicstudio to create a version of the cordel which echoes the form yet amplifies it, and preserves it with fine archival paper and boxing.

A Brazilian in Florida

A Brazilian in Florida chronicles Batista's journey to Tampa in 1996 through eight woodblock prints and an eight-part poem (in English and Portuguese), printed in letterpress and presented in a folio box.

Printmaking + Sculpture Terms

Printmaking Glossary

Sculpture Glossary

Sales

For sales, or more information about an edition, please contact Graphicstudio at (813) 974-3503 or gsoffice@usf.edu.

Copyright + Reproduction

Images of the artwork are jointly owned by the artist and Graphicstudio. Reproduction of any kind including electronic media must be expressly approved by Graphicstudio.