Adriana Scartaris is a professional who works as an interior designer in the creation of residential, commercial and corporate projects, with 36 years of experience and more than 323,000 m2 of completed works throughout Brazil and abroad. He began his academic training at a young age, completing the first Interior Design course at the Escola Panamericana de Arte e Design SP in 1978. In 1984 he completed the Industrial Design course at the Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado, FAAP/SP, then enrolled in the fine arts course at the same institution. In 1986, he completed a specialization in Illustration Applied to Industrial Design at Faculdade Santa Marcelina, FASM/SP. He also completed the Visual Arts course in the same year, and then began his career as a visual artist at the same time.
He specialized in the History of Furniture Design in 1990 to gain more control over the creation process within each style.
Since then, he constantly participates in lectures, seminars, entrepreneurship courses, face-to-face and online training and, always looking to learn and follow closely, the biggest world events in the segment.
Tell us how this lifelong passion for the art world began.
I started working and thinking about art as a child. I've been drawing since I was five/six years old and I'm already 60 years old; it is a great pride to think that I have already had more than half a century of life touched by art. When I was 6 years old, the teacher called my mother to school — my mother was all worried thinking it was a complaint. “Put this girl to study because she has talent” said my teacher to my mother. This is the record I have of my beginnings as an artist. Hence, I had the opportunity to have several training courses and several different teaching proposals, in industrial design, interior design, visual arts, plastic arts. This was something that always ran in parallel with my career. In fact, I have two careers that run in parallel: art and design, and curating. Five years ago I started the project Collective 284 and working with curation. I graduated in curating and started practicing more and more.
What are the most extraordinary points?
One of the most extraordinary points was in 1997, in São Paulo, when I held an exhibition with a series of my works, entitled “Jogos Urbanos”, where I created a large house, which was attended by 1200 people at the inauguration. This was the first time I said “I am an artist”. I sold all the works that day! I didn't expect that result, especially with a work that at that time was not very accepted because it was very colorful. If I had any doubts about the work to be done, the doubts ended there. In my opinion, it was my starting point as an artist. Tell us about your experience as a curator.
I have another starting point as a curator, with the “Imperfeita” project. The first exhibition took place in Lisbon, in 2021. What is Imperfeita? What's the story? I was in the middle of the pandemic in early 2020, very scared and scared, like all of us. I run a group of artists here in Brazil, with around two thousand artists, in which I mentor many of them. At that moment, I realized that all the artists with whom I had direct contact were very scared and very sensitive. In my opinion, the artist suffered a lot during the pandemic, due to his profile as a person who is always wanting to understand the world better. There are people who deal a lot with making, but the artist deals with problems, thinking. I was also very scared and scared, especially my company, which is Colectivo 284, had less than six months to live. We opened in June 2019, but after a few months we started to close. So, the company just opened, with a very high investment, and with an unconventional DNA, was at risk of closing.
So the possibility of that happening and losing everything got really big and it was really scary for me! To make matters worse, I was in Brazil and the company in Portugal, that is, everything could go wrong. My partner and I came to think that maybe it wasn't possible, but we thought: “let's try to keep it”. In this scenario I stopped, looked at myself and asked: “What am I going to do? What can I create? How can I help artists and keep my project up and running with it strengthened?” I started looking for an understanding of what would be the turning point of this world. We were, in my opinion, living in the end times, and something had to be done. I understood that it was due to the feminine energy, not necessarily the woman, but the feminine energy that exists in men as well — energy of acceptance, of thinking about others, what we have to do for the world to be better. At that moment, what we really needed was to think about the other, because only by thinking about the other would we be able to protect ourselves. This was too intense for me!
I went looking for a feminine energy in the art world, one that represented resistance, strength and resilience. I remembered the Frida Kahlo and this was my hook. I proposed a contest to elect Brazilian artists to exhibit in my gallery in Portugal without even knowing if the gallery would exist, but I thought let's go in parts! The project proposal, called “Imperfeita”, wanted to demonstrate that imperfection makes people unique and that the characteristics that are not considered standardized are a power and not a defect. In the meantime, the proposal to use augmented reality appeared, a technology that until then was not widely used. I also had the idea of creating the first interactive catalogue. When I thought about the inauguration of “imperfect”, I wanted it to happen in March, women's month, but I couldn't, because we were still closed. In May, we put six thousand people in this gallery for thirty days, that is, almost 1% of the city's population and this is unthinkable for Lisbon! During that time, 90% of the works were all sold as well. Augmented reality was a success, and in terms of media, it was also way above expectations.
From then on, our agenda is closed until 2023. That was a turning point, a point as a curator, of managing a project at a very difficult time. This project was a possibility for some of the artists who participated to reinforce their inspiration and seek strength. They managed to get through that very difficult moment and had the possibility of being in a project where their work was demonstrated. It was really amazing!
What is Coletivo 284?
We managed to explain the collective very well with the three numbers: 284.
TWO are two countries: Portugal and Brazil, EIGHT are eight creative journeys that go through Art, Events, Brand Activation, Design, Architecture, Communication, Interior Design and Marketing.
FOUR are the four supporting pillars that are the Planet, Humanity, Connections and the Future. Our communication is committed to transmitting our identity, the reason for our name and our purpose which is “284”. Today the world accepts those who are multipotential. Previously, being multipotential was a defect, because everyone and the market understood that anyone who does one thing cannot do anything else well. And today it is completely the opposite! Whoever does one thing can and should do everything he wants well.
What has been the most extraordinary project of theCollective 284?
In fact, all experiences are extraordinary! There isn't one that I can single out! I'll highlight a few to make it easier. Every year we create an event to support an association that works within one of our pillars. Last year we did a job with the Entremundos association that takes care of war refugees. There was still no war from Ukraine, they were focused on refugees from Afghanistan and they are still focused on refugees from various countries. The association proposed the transfer of the space for the launching of a book by the president of the Association. We received the proposal and accepted. In the midst of this, an interesting thing happened, the president of the association had on her cell phone some drawings of children and teenagers who were in the care of the association. They sent me two or three drawings, made in pencil, that portrayed the lives of those young people, very hard, sad and heavy. So I said: “I want sixty-three drawings by tomorrow”. They sent me the drawings of three young people, the vast majority, and I joined my WhatsApp group, where there are around three hundred artists, and I asked: “Who is interested in working on this project in favor of an association that takes care of refugees?” In ten minutes I had about twenty interested artists. We made a beautiful book called “Give color to the dream”, the artists colored the children's works. That was a very beautiful connection! In a short time, I was able to trigger my connections and create a project.
For example, we have other situations in theCollective 284, as our proposal always permeates the mix of art and the activation of brands with marketing, we have also had, for example, an event for a car brand. This electric car has an awareness footprint, even due to the composition of the car. With this proposal, we created an entire artistic project for the launch, bringing artists to participate in this project as well. We also have an ongoing project to create wine labels and we are going to create an exhibition with artists who paint with wine. With this scope of the project, I cannot name one. All of them are incredible, each in their own way and that makes me very happy, because they all end up having a very big role in our history. Now we have an exhibition in progress, with a Portuguese artist, very well known outside Portugal. Many people believe that he is American and not that he is Portuguese! We also have an exhibition in our virtual gallery and soon in Metaverse.
Each project is a new passion. Each project has a different stimulus. All have the same charm!
How has the experience of working in Portugal been?
At first I had, like anyone who is in a country that is not his or her country of origin, even though it is a sister country, with a sister language, some difficulty adapting. I'm from São Paulo and every São Paulo native has a great Portuguese friend or son of Portuguese parents. In Portugal, not everyone has a great Brazilian friend. So, I realize that people in Portugal, despite the fact that there are many Brazilians in Portugal, do not have as close contact as we do here in São Paulo with the Portuguese. As a result, we often have to explain our way of being and our behavior. At first, because the project was very different, I had two questions: explaining myself as a Brazilian, in order to be able to use the Portuguese language — it's a different language, a different culture. Second, explain a project that is difficult to understand because it is so conceptual. Fortunately, these difficulties passed in a short time. Today I can express myself calmly and I think that the market, for the most part, has already noticed the “284 power”.
Which artists do you look forward to working with?
In the proposal ofCollective 284 We always want to work with artists who have already consolidated their careers, and mix with early career artists, on the rise and artists we discover. This happened at the Imperfeita exhibition, there were two works, one by an artist who had already been in twenty biennials and another with his first exhibition. What dream to work with? I dream to work with everyone! If I could resurrect an artist, I would want to meet theFrida Kahlo, but it doesn't. In practically a year and a half, Coletivo 284 has already produced exhibitions with sixty artists. By the end of the year, another twenty-five artists should be added. Next year, the proposal is even bigger because I'm going to enter the Metaverse and then the scale is much bigger.
Can you choose an exhibition that marked significant?
An exhibition that had a great impact on me was in Brazil over twenty years ago, called rediscovery. This commemorated the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Brazil and gave me an overview of the power of Brazilian art. I stayed seven hours to see everything because it's so big. It brought artists from all over Brazil who are considered artisans, alongside renowned artists.
At Coletivo 284, as curator, the first exhibition Imperfeita, for giving rise to the project and others. Another exhibition that I like and that is on display now, of which I am co-curator, here in Brazil, is called art of traveling. It is an exhibition with thirty-five Brazilian artists and one Portuguese artist, which talks about any type of trip, inside or outside, to a place or an idea. So, there are thirty-five works that portray this art of traveling. It is an exhibition that will tour several cities in Brazil. These are the three moments I like to highlight today. Tomorrow maybe it will be others.
What are the themes that should be more debated in the art world?
I cannot understand an artistic proposal that does not undergo evolution in some way. I believe that any proposal, in any artistic language, has to be for evolution, whether for self-knowledge, for the protection of human life on the planet or even to understand the consumption of human emotions. I believe that each artist, with their poetics, manages to touch on some theme or reflection that leads to evolution. It may seem too vague to say that, but there it contemplates all artistic aspects and all artistic poetics. Another interesting theme that I have seen a lot these days, for example in the big exhibitions in Brazil and at the Bienal de São Paulo, is the theme of Indigenous Art.
I also notice some great exhibitions and great artistic movements, which talk about the preservation of life on the planet. In some situations I perceive artists and even brands that sponsor a little wrong. In my opinion, in that sense, because it's not about saving the planet, it's about saving human life itself. The planet will not die! We are not going to destroy the planet, we are going to destroy ourselves if we continue like this. The planet recovers and returns to its fullness, we do not. This is very dramatic, I realize that many artists begin to understand the meaning, taking away the arrogance of man and showing the smallness of man in the face of nature. This is a theme that artists can work with without being that apocalyptic thing, but something in the sense of raising awareness based on human emotions.
If I had to highlight themes that call my attention, they would be the preservation of life on the planet, with various poetics and various paths, and human emotions. Currently, I believe that these are two issues that need to be widely debated.
In your opinion, who are the artists who are transforming the current art scene?
Street performers! They are the artists who have the most knowledge and who are prepared for adversity. As they are used to painting abroad, they know the problems and everything that happens on the streets, as they have a lot of contact with other people. Art is a very solitary quest, because the artist is usually alone in the studio. Street artists have more contact with others. Thus, they can get their message and idea across faster. What rewards urban art artists is that everyone, from the most famous artist to the artist that nobody knows from a peripheral region, develops social work. In my opinion, they are the most prepared right now!
What is your advice for young artists, curators, producers, among other agents, who are currently taking their first steps in this world?
Persist and work! The artist cannot forget that he is the representative of his own brand. You cannot delegate to another person who is 100% representative of his art. Of course, you must have a manager, so that the process is done with more quality, but you must know the whole process itself. It's a job like any other. Being an artist is a profession! There is no gift that comes from God or a divine inspiration. Does not exist! Everything is work! So, the advice is to study hard, work hard. When you find a poetic, a theme that makes sense to you, dive in! You will have to face everything and everyone to secure this theme, because sometimes the theme is still “too early” for the market or the artist has not yet met the right people. You have to invest in poetics, it's no use for the artist to enter a line that he doesn't believe in, but that matches people's homes, just to sell the work. When he does that and opens the doors of a prison, he doesn't come out of it anymore.
It is necessary to create meaning for the artist, because if he doesn't, the work alone dies in a short time. Then that's it; study a lot, realize that it's a profession, that you have to work and it doesn't all come from divine inspiration. This also applies to curators, as they also have to study a lot to have a minimum knowledge of the market, technology and the availability of work from other curators. Knowing what there is to promote and enhance your work, because without that the work dies inside the studio, on the wall. Understanding what these possibilities are for enhancing the dissemination and sale of work, finding partnerships with projects that are reliable and well-designed.
There are possibilities in the physical world and in the virtual world; so it's understanding and knowing all the tools available and surrounding yourself with other people who are competent. In my opinion, both the artist and the curator need to work hard, have knowledge, try to understand new tools like digital assets and get the right partnerships.
If you had the possibility to choose a work of art for your “personal collection”, what would it be?
I would choose a work that is scary for me, but I think it's amazing: The "Scream" (The Scream) by Edvard Munch. This work was very powerful and strong for me. I think that many people, because it is a work that they have already seen so much, are not impressed by its power. I had the privilege of seeing this work from fifty centimeters away, and I was paralyzed for a long time in front of it to understand its power. It was the work that moved me the most. I've seen "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso up close, Da Vinci's “Mona Lisa” and other works by several important Brazilian artists, but nothing left me in that state like the Grito. If it were possible, I would like to have it, even if the emotion it causes me is not positive, but it is so strong!
Finally, what are the cultural events you most look forward to visiting in 2022?
This year, the São Paulo Biennial was interesting. There are many immersive exhibitions in São Paulo, each with a different artist and all must be seen. In fact, whenever I get the chance, I go to an exhibition, whether it's a highly publicized mega-exhibition or even a lesser publicity exhibition. I think that for a curator and artist, it is important to see several different proposals for curatorship and exhibition, because you can have a collection of information, where you can search for information there with a reference for the creation of a work. I'd really like to see it, but I don't think she's going to Portugal, an exhibition that exists in Mexico, at the museum ofFrida Kahlo. In the future, I would really like to see an exhibition of mine in the metaverse, in a virtual environment, with many people inside the gallery. In fact, I've done a few meetings in the metaverse and it's amazing. You are in the virtual space, which is very similar to the physical space with another poetics, in which the avatar may or may not look like you and you can talk to other people as if you were at a party. I've already done tests in our metaverse gallery with four or five people, but I want to do it with two hundred, and see how it goes. The experience I want to have in the future is to see this in my gallery to test what I can do.