This work is a tribute and declaration of love to the Brazilian artist José Leonilson who died of AIDS in 1993 at the age of 36. The basis of this video is formed by fragments of tapes that Leonilson recorded as a form of diary between 1990 and 1992. In these, he comes across as a sensitive man, an artist who wants to create poetry and who lives for his work. He is lonely, because he does not dare to start a relationship with another man, but fortunately he is inspired by every man that he finds pleasant. Without realizing it, Leonilson is what he wants to be and creates what he wants to create. He reads a poem and then says: "Who knows, maybe one day my works will be poetry as beautiful as this", while his drawings, paintings and embroidered cloths that we see, are exactly that. "I'd like to know how to join words and make sentences", and in all his works of art there are written and embroidered words and sentences. They are an integral part of his work and often form a linking factor. According to Leonilson, the words of the title come from the love song Cherish by Madonna, which keeps recurring in the video, sung by Renato Russo. "I want to do everything all the time", says Leonilson, full of enthusiasm. "I'm 33 and full of life. I'm full of desire. A fish-man. A fish-man with a whole ocean to swim in." That is painful to the ears when you realize how little time he has left.
– Lies Holtrop
|
Camera Jacques Cheuiche, Sound mixing Leonardo Domingues, advice Marcos Chaves, With José Leonilsen, Production MPC & Associados/Mário Santoro, Cristiane Nascimento,
|
|