Ed Ribeiro: Biography, Artistic Beginnings, and Golden Achievements of the Painter of the Orishas

Known as The Painter of the Orishas, Ed Ribeiro is a Brazilian artist, who has been standing out for presenting an innovative and differentiated painting technique, dubbed by him as "derramamento de tintas". His work features the magical and mysterious world of Candomblé as its central theme. He is considered one of the most important contemporary figures in his country, where he contributes to the formation of Brazilian popular culture, as he understands the deep religious connection, relating art to the sensitivity of his people.

His art is a form of expression and connection with the orishas, and he believes that his painting is a form of communication with these entities.

He is known for his works that mix elements of nature with Afro-Brazilian culture, creating a unique and expressive language.

BIOGRAPHY

Edmilton da Cruz Ribeiro, was born on November 4, 1952, in Catu, a city that belongs to the metropolitan region of the capital Salvador (Bahia). He is the eldest of seventeen children of a humble and hardworking family.

In his youth, full of dreams, he migrated to Salvador where he became a salesman of refrigeration appliances and baking. Through his great effort, economy, and success, he opened a service provision company and, subsequently, the first acarajé house in Bahia, Point do Acarajé, in the Canela region, a popular establishment of typical foods, which expanded by opening in other locations in his state and also outside of it, such as in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

From 2005, the entrepreneur decided to abandon entrepreneurship and start an artistic career, and it was at this moment that the artist Ed Ribeiro was born.

In an interview in 2013, he explained the reason for this change that drastically changed his life:

"God looks at me too much. I am very grateful to him. I was tired of working in commerce, which is a very exhausting activity, although my business [Point do Acarajé] was a success, even widely reported in the press. As I was already dissatisfied, I asked God to free me from that. I understood little about art, but I felt the energy of painting. I started researching places to learn to paint. One day, as I was leaving the building where I lived, I picked up a flyer from a person on the street, advertising a painting course near my home. I went to the atelier and paid for ten classes. I only did four and then I started painting on my own..."

A rare case of an artist who started painting at 52. The spark of art already existed in this being endowed with skills and sensitivity, it was just dormant. A great search for transformation and expression, it was a higher power that guided him, moving him away from his activities to a new reality and presenting him to the art world, to meet his true vocation.

In his unique technique, the artist does not use brushes, spatulas, or any other painting instrument. To give shape to the composition, he pours paint onto the desired surface in a horizontal position and moves it according to the shape he wants to achieve, the paint that he pours and flows onto the canvas gives a sense of movement to the represented figure.

His first exhibition was at a hotel in Bahia, which resulted in a great success, as he was able to sell many paintings in his state and also in countries such as the United States and Germany and later had the opportunity to exhibit in New York.

In 2009, he received a gold medal from the Brasileira Society of Fine Arts.

In 2010, with only five years of career as a plastic artist, he was awarded by the Academy of Letters and Arts of Paris. In September of the same year, he had the honor of holding an exhibition at the Louvre Museum.

In 2014, he was hired by an airline, and thus traveled on a tour of Europe, exhibiting in various countries, such as Spain, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, and Germany.

In 2015, he received an award, honored with the Berimbau de Ouro.

In 2017, he suffered a stroke that unfortunately had to interrupt his work and exhibitions that were scheduled in Brazil and in many countries abroad. Despite being debilitated, he maintained a single exhibition where he produced in London to satisfy a dream. Between physical therapy, the artist continued to recover, even so, he did not stop producing with the force of an admirable grandeur, treating the disease as a blessing in his life.

In 2020, he produced the largest mural in mosaico in Brazil, measuring approximately seventy meters in length. Entitled In Search of Light, the work is located at the Escola Traços e Letras, in his hometown, Catu.

In July 2021, he created a composition in partnership with the musician Charles Theone, which was made in the form of a prayer and received the title of Colorful Forró. It is a contagious single, full of sonorous nuances pointing to Brazilian culture in a festive rhythm.

A Museum in the Open Air...

"My atelier is my sanctuary, my direct connection with the orishas, where I enter into contact with these energies, where I get the necessary inspiration to create these works" (Ed Ribeiro)

Between geese, dogs, and other animals that he affectionately named with the names of famous artists, such as Portinari, Tarsila, Picasso and others, Ed lives in his hometown, in a space transformed into an atelier with sculptures and installations that has become a Museum in the Open Air. Among the productions that occupy the location, the work Dinossauro stands out, a sculpture with ten meters in length, transformed from nature, where the artist used the root of a lost jaqueira; The Lagoon of Two Hearts with the Mijão an interference created by the artist with the exit of water for this lagoon, in addition to many of his orishas paintings, which is worth visiting to appreciate the creativity of this great artist.

The space is open for visits with prior scheduling.

Ed Ribeiro has a good relationship with his audience in the main social networks (Instagram and Facebook), where he is identified as @pintor_dos_orixas.