ABA was born in 1987 as a Nucleus of Aquarelistas and only after 20 years on the road did the name ABA – Brazilian Association of Watercolors and Art on Paper take root in the old and strong roots of the past.
Iole Di Natale and a small group of artists came together with a common goal: the interest, development, expansion of knowledge, the desire for the ART OF THE WATERCOLOR to cross barriers and borders, leading to the art-loving public, the media and the possibilities of disseminating the watercolor technique, a technique that is still taking small steps not only in Brazil but in the world in general.
Years passed and this group grew, became an adult, completed 33 years old and continues in its struggle for the dissemination of Art on paper, placing Aquarela as a pictorial place and respecting the individual poetics of each of its members.
ABA encourages each watercolorist so that he can be a generating agent of interest in Watercolor and new work groups.
In 2016 ABA lost IOLE DI NATALE, its founder and inspiration. This void is only filled by the continuity of our work towards this dream for which she lived and dedicated her life.
In 2017, we created the IOLE DI NATALE AWARD that was granted for the first time to ANNA MASSINISSA, creator of the INTERNATIONAL WATERCOLOR MUSEUM in the city of Fabriano, Italy. Iole was one of the great promoters of this initiative and fought and supported this idea of creating the Museum a lot.
Since the beginning of its foundation, ABA has promoted, participated and collaborated with numerous international exhibitions and hundreds of national ones.
It promotes, every six months, in the months of May and October, Watercolor Forums, with a sampling of the works of its members and discussion of their research.
It holds monthly meetings of all its members on the first Mondays of February to June and from August to December, at the Espaço Cultural da Loja Pintar, on Rua Cotoxó 110, in São Paulo.
Awards received:
2003 Best Cultural Action Award in Visual Arts, granted by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics – APCA.
2016 Brazil Excellence and Quality Award, granted by the Brazilian Leadership Association Braslider, for professional of the year.
In watercolor, the water runs freely at times and the color becomes diffuse, blends with other colors, creating new expectations, new stories, new illusions, while at other times the water barely penetrates, the light is blocked and the shadow with its poignant force is present. The pigment is dense and covers the paper like a curtain that doesn’t reveal tomorrow, but brings secrets and promises.
Contained by the artist’s hands, pigment and water merge in stains, figures and compositions, where the transparency leads to the ethereal and the dense color to the mysteries of the depths….
Creating new images, enchanting new looks, watercolor is gaining new spaces, new stakeholders, and ABA, in its path of exhibitions, workshops, meetings, and lectures, spreads watercolor among artists and art lovers, in its various techniques .
Maria Inês Lukacs – President of ABA
