Joan Joao, the Chilean artist passionate about Brazilian football

Mar 13, 2024

For

Born in Chile, the 23-year-old artist is currently pursuing Visual Arts. But it is his love for painting that stands out: last year he held his first exhibition at the library in Santiago - “JOGA BONITO". The name is familiar to us, after all, Brazilian football is known for this expression.

Joan, in addition to other interests, is passionate about football. His aesthetic in painting is easily recognizable and he mentions that nostalgia about the subject is something that inspires him to paint.

We spoke a little with Joan about his interests, painting, and expectations, check it out below:

Before we start, I would like you to introduce yourself briefly to our audience!

I am Joan Carcamo, I am 23 years old, I am from the city of Punta Arenas and I currently live in Santiago, Chile, where I am in the fourth year of the Visual Arts course at UNIACC University. In 2023, I had my first experiences exhibiting. In June, I inaugurated my first exhibition "JOGA BONITO" at the library in Santiago; in July, "Learning Love" at Casa Andacollo and "Three Yellow Roses" at Merkado Gris; and in October, "The Thing and Its Double" at the University. My creative interests have roots in a retrospective perspective, both from my childhood and from recognizable figures in popular culture. Specifically, I am interested in themes such as football, cinema, fashion, urban music, among others. The medium through which I develop my work is painting. With it, I seek to construct a personal and collective identity image, through a style characterized by the pictorial gesture and the expression of color. This allows me to translate pre-existing images with few resources, appealing to a sensitivity that is built exclusively at the visual level, where line, support, and color interact.

What was your first contact with painting and art in general?

My first contact with painting was around the age of 14 when I bought my first supplies and paints. Some time later, I took classes in a workshop at my school, which offered an elective option, where I subsequently learned the basics about art as a discipline. Through those classes and then trying to apply what I learned when I began practicing at home with the first acrylic paints I bought.

Your love for football is explicit! How did the idea of painting it come about?

Since I was very young, I have played football, and my life has always been surrounded by it. In childhood, I played in the courts of my neighborhood, at school, anywhere. Later on, video games and fanaticism for the sport developed naturally. Currently, I may not be as fanatical as in my teenage years, and that’s why nostalgic memories arise - which are the central theme of my painting. Through this concept, I started to think about my childhood memories, and football emerges as an obvious and natural response. Basically, my childhood involved carrying my ball everywhere. I also had a strong connection with the sports environment in my city since my father coached my neighborhood team, so I was always involved with football culture, and thus, I ended up playing. Therefore, when creating, the reminiscence of those moments inspires me a lot.

You had an exhibition called 'Joga Bonito'. How do you describe your affection for football and Brazilian players?

Joga Bonito was born with the idea of painting part of my childhood memories, recognizing the saying in Portuguese. For me, the football that has always captivated me emphasizes an expressive style of play that tactics cannot teach. Individual skills, one-touch passes, off-the-ball movement, power, etc. Since I was little, I admired flashy players, those who had good touch, those who dribbled, and those who did it best in my childhood were the Brazilians; Ronaldo Nazário and Ronaldinho are my favorite players. And I think there aren't many players of that style nowadays. In my memories are the all-star players from the 2000s, whom I started painting in 2021, subsequently generating many football works and gathering them in this exhibition.

Which teams do you support?

In my country, I support Colo-Colo, and abroad, I really like Manchester United, which has been my favorite team since childhood because of CR7, but now I get very stressed watching their games because I get very nervous (laughs).

And who are your favorite players of all time?

Ronaldo Nazário without a doubt, then Ronaldinho, Zidane, CR7, Messi.

What are the best memories you have related to football?

When I was very small, my father used to buy very small footballs for me, and my mother always dressed me in sportswear. Then, I have memories from my neighborhood, at my grandparents' country house. Regarding a club, my whole family supports Colo-Colo, and when I was little, they would buy Matías Fernández jerseys for me, and I played a lot of PES 2006, always using Real Madrid or Brazil; that's how my fanaticism for Ronaldo Nazário was born. Later, at the internet café, we would play PlayStation 1 or 2 and watch Joga Bonito videos on YouTube. I remember the videos teaching how to take free kicks like CR7 or the best plays of Messi.

What does Ronaldo represent for you, so prominently featured in your paintings?

For me, Ronaldo is the personification of Joga Bonito, of a skillful, charismatic player. In this sense, playing football will always be fun for me, playing well, but above all, having fun, trying to perform tricks, etc. For me, he is a very relevant personality in the sports world, who taught us that it is possible to be the best in the world while having fun. Moreover, while playing, I like to try to do the things he did, being a bit daring and having fun trying to play well. I also play as a forward, and he is the ultimate reference for how a perfect forward should be, so that’s where my admiration and inspiration for his figure comes from. I even have his tattooed on my chest. Visually, R9 also represents a very important aesthetic in the world of fashion, or at least a very defined era that I love, the sneakers, the t-shirts I wear, the boots, the haircut, the smile; I think all of this also creates in me a very clear image of a certain era of football, that is, it can be a visual definition of a certain era of football. Of my favorite era.

Do you see beauty in football? What message do you intend to convey through your paintings?

I see beauty in what football can convey and teach a person. The language of football is as deep, complex, and full of nuances as any other language in the world, going from aggressive to compassionate, from humorous to desolate, from unpleasant to affectionate. I would like to decipher it; I believe or assume it is one of the tasks I have discovered. Most of my works are a love letter to popular football as a ubiquitous cultural symbol, something immediately recognizable and capable of triggering countless reflections and ideas. But sometimes doubts arise, and the desire to go to much more specific places, like sometimes I just want to paint an image that caught my attention or a pair of sneakers I talked about with my friends. I believe that sport has this ability to go from something superficial to profound in a matter of seconds, and that is the most beautiful part. I have friends who cry and laugh with football; for me, it is a source of entertainment as an observer, and I have been creating my own archive of images, which, when they become popular, generate a collective nostalgic feeling, and this is very beautiful to me - being able to remember and rejoice with the past or feel sadness for the past in company.

In the end, football is a representation of love on many levels, and that’s what I try to convey in my works.

What are your intentions and future expectations - in your personal and professional life, future projects, etc.?

One of my main goals is to be able to support myself financially with my work, and lately, I am getting closer to that. From there, my idea is to be able to have fun, play with art, with my experiences, and connect with the audience or fellow artists, as is happening now, that I am achieving a certain recognition outside my country, which makes me very happy. In July, I am going to London for an exhibition that I will announce soon, and I would love to visit the cradles of South American football, which have so much influence on my art. Going to a stadium in Brazil would be a dream, so I will continue working to achieve these goals. These are my ideas, to visit other countries, meet more people, and share and enjoy art. Eventually, I want to create my first clothing pieces or learn other disciplines beyond painting to continue growing and gaining different experiences. I believe it is something fundamental for an artist to enrich themselves as much as possible.