Fernando Palma was born in the city of Lins, state of São Paulo, Brazil, in 1948. In 1969, he moved to the city of Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, where he attended Medical School, specialized in Plastic Surgery and, later on, further qualified by taking a post-graduation degree in the USA (New York University, 1975). Later on, Palma set up his own plastic surgery practice in Belo Horizonte and started on what was to become a highly successful career he pursued for many years. Though closely linked to the arts (particularly to sculpture), plastic surgery, his particular field of specialization, somehow restricted his skills, preventing him from letting his imagination take wings and creating freely. As could only be expected, he eventually yielded to his innermost yearnings to express himself artistically in a more direct way and started to steer his professional activities in a new direction. In 1977, Palma entered the Federal University of Minas Gerais and Guignard School of Arts (both in Belo Horizonte), where he completed several courses in the field of Fine Arts. After many years of training with renowned masters, Palma has finally become a full-time artist and keeps up a large and steady flow of artistic production which is diplayed to the public in many up-market galleries throughout Brazil and The United States of America. Palma keeps two studios, one in the city of Belo Horizonte and the other on "Fazenda dos Dourados" farm, an estate he owns on the banks of the Furnas Lake, in the Southern Region of the state of Minas Gerais. His paintings are permanently on show in both studios. In the past few years, Palma has been working mainly on three distinct series: "Silent Lives", "Passion and Fantasy" and "The Beauty of Gesture". ARTIST'S INSIGHTS INTO HIS WORK The essence of the "Silent Lives" series can easily be traced back to my childhood, happily spent on a farm ("Fazenda Rio Dourado") near Lins, a city located in rural São Paulo. I would wander about the orchard for hours, looking at the trees in full blossom, with boughs arching under the burden of ripening fruit. It taunted and amazed me to see how the crude and amorphous soil could produce such colorful, delicate and pure fruits. I was also constantly nagged by a deep urge to establish a sensory relationship with them, to unravel their deeply hidden secret. Many a time did I try to heed this call. To no avail, however. The mystery was too deep and too great. The time finally came when I became aware of the existence of the "forbidden fruit" and of the overpowering force of fertile soil. The early internal stirrings of my childhood gave place to torments of passion. I realized then that one is, from one's very birth, destined to burn with relentless desire and only sparingly enjoy the odd and ephemeral moments of intense happiness, when one glimpses paradise. The bigger the happiness, the greater is one's suffering, uncertainty and fear of losing it. One constantly craves a state of serenity, peacefulness, far from the torments of deep sensations, extreme feelings and wild pleasure. No sooner is this achieved, however, than one once again cries out for passion. Then, again consumed by passionate feelings, one once again relapses. This fatalistic process, one concludes, cannot be stopped and goes on and on, inexorably, relentlessly, with moments of extreme peacefulness followed by others, evidently more frequent, full of passion and fantasies. Life is but moving energy in the eternal cycle of nature. The duality of this everlasting spiritual search gave origin to the series "Silent Lives", "Passion and Fantasy" and "The Beauty of Gesture". In "Silent Lives", I paint fruits. Fruits which I hold in my hands, feel, behold and smell, trying to slip back in time in search of my long-lost purity and original peace. After a few tentative brush strokes and dabs of carefully chosen colors, I suddenly, like in a dream, miraculously find myself back in the orchards of my childhood. In the two latter series, I use the female and male human figures to capture man's nature, to express all human conflicts, doubts, passions and fantasies. A recurring theme is women's beautiful and sensitive universe, full of charm, danger, incoherence and sensuality. Apparently fragile, dependent, unpredictable, women are, in reality, strong and fully aware of their power to, like the soil, create life. Their universe is at the same time treacherous and seductive. The masculine universe, on the other hand, is at first sight full of strength and independence, but one soon discovers its hidden and intrinsic weakness, a streak of dependency which is only very reluctantly allowed to surface. In other words, men and women are one in their happiness and sadness. They are but pure and moving energy. COURSES 1977/1978 - Sculpture and Art History Courses at Guignard Fine Arts School - Belo Horizonte - MG 1988 - Artistic Drawing Course - Fine Arts School of the Federal University of Minas Gerais - UFMG - Belo Horizonte - MG 1990 - Attendant at the Conference "Images and Creation Processes"- Lecturer: artist Fayga Ostrower - Belo Horizonte - MG 1989/90/91 - Plastic Arts Course - Guignard Fine Arts School - Belo Horizonte - MG COLLECTIVE AND ONE-MAN SHOWS 1992 - Exhibition - "Salão Jaspe" Exhibition on Hall - Minas Tennis Club I - Belo Horizonte - MG 1993 - Exhibition - "Espaço Cultural Henfil " (Henfil Art Exhibition Hall) - Municipal Chamber - Belo Horizonte - MG 1993 - Exhibition - Tennis Country Club - Ribeirão Preto - SP 1994 - Exhibition - Stancati (Home and Office Design) - Campinas - SP 1994 - Exhibition - Magistrates'Association - São Paulo - SP 1995 - Exhibition - ACESITA Foundation's Cultural Center - Itabira - MG 1995 - Exhibition - "Jardim Contemporâneo" Art Gallery - Ribeirão Preto - SP 1995 - Collective Show - "Solar do Rosário Gallery Artists'Salon" - Curitiba - PR 1995 - Exhibition - Alencastro Guimarães Art Gallery - Porto Alegre - RS 1995 - Collective Show - ACESITA Foundation's Cultural Center - Acesita - MG 1996 - Collective Show - "Via Lívia" Art Gallery - Gramado - RS 1996 - Exhibition - "Belo Horizonte's 100 Years" - Legislative Assembly of the State of Minas Gerais - Belo Horizonte - MG 1997 - Exhibition - "Casa Cor" Decoration Show - Porto Alegre - RS 1998 - Exhibition - A2 Art Agency - São José do Rio Preto - SP 1998 - Exhibition - "Banco Francês e Brasileiro" Exhibition Hall - Belo Horizonte - MG 1998 - Exhibition - Artist's Studio in honour of "Amigas da Cultura" (Cultural/Charitable Private Group) - Belo Horizonte - MG 1998 - Exhibition - "Casa Cor" Decoration Show - Punta del Este - Uruguay 1999 - Participation in the "Brazilian Art Scene" Auction in behalf of the Clinical Hospital of the City of Curitiba (Heart Transplants - Pediatrics) - Curitiba - PR 2005 - Exhibition - Shaw Gallery, Naples, Fl PRIZES 1991 - Prize-winning artist - VII Plastic Arts Contest for Minas Tennis Club's Members - Belo Horizonte - MG 1994 - Prize-awarded artist - "Golden Palette Prize Awarded at the 31ST Plastic Surgery Congress"- Belo Horizonte - MG REFRENCES AND REPRODUCTIONS References to or reproductions of PALMA'work may be found in the following books: Brazilian Fine Arts Guide - Author: Ricardo Menezes - New York - USA Artes Plásticas Brasil 1997 (Seu Mercado Seus Leilões) Brazil's Plastic Arts - 1997 (Markets and Auction Houses) - Authors: Maria Alice, Júlio Louzada - São Paulo - SP "60 Artistas de Minas Gerais" (Sixty Artists of Minas Gerais) - Author: Rui Alves Lima - Belo Horizonte - MG Art Book - Author: Rui Alves Lima - Belo Horizonte - MG Artes Plásticas Brasil - 1998 (Seu Mercado Seus Leilões) [Brazil's Plastic Arts - 1998 (Markets and Auction Houses)] - Authors: Maria Alice, Júlio Louzada - São Paulo - SP Fernando Palma was born in 1948 near São Paulo, Brazil. In 1969, he moved to Belo Horizonte, where he attended Medical School and majored in Plastic Surgery. In the mid 1970s, he furthered his studies at New York University; completing his post-graduate degree in 1975. In 1977, Fernando entered the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, as well as the Guignard School of Art (both in Belo Horizonte), where he completed several courses in Fine Art. After many years of training with renowned Brazilian masters, Palma has finally become a full time artist and consistently produces great paintings. In the past few years, Fernando has been working on three distinct series: "Silent Lives", "Passion and Fantasy" and "The Beauty of Gesture". Palma keeps two studios, one in Belo Horizonte, the other on "Fazenda dos Dourados" farm, an estate he owns in Minas Gerais. His paintings are permanently on show in both studios. His work today is proudly displayed in many public and private collections throughout Brazil and the United States.