Rhythm & Skin is the result of his working stay in the residency programme of 68projects by KORNFELD, where the artist worked between October and December 2025. The exhibition is also complemented by works OBastardo recently produced in Brazil. His portraits possess an immediate power that is both aesthetic and political.
Image gallery
O Bastardo, Untitled, 2025. Oil, Acrylic and Pigment pen on linen
O Bastardo, Untitled, 2025, Oil and Acrylic on linen
In his pictures, we encounter faces and bodies that appear both individual and collective – portraits of a society in which history, resistance and the future are inextricably intertwined. His symbolic visual language draws from the depths of Afro-Brazilian culture. Colours, patterns and gestures carry a double meaning: they represent personal identity and, at the same time, serve as ciphers of collective memory. The figures rarely look directly at the viewer – they exist in an interspace of pride, melancholy and spiritual power.
OBastardo has developed a hybrid painting technique that combines gestural painting with elements of urban imagery. His works are based on a powerful graphic structure, characterised by precise lines, striking contours and an intense, rhythmic colour palette that draws on the visual codes of the street, hip-hop culture and Afro-diasporic aesthetics. The image surface is created in several layers: the artist builds stylised figures, symbols and recurring patterns on coloured, often irregularly flat backgrounds. Drawn elements remain visible and give the works a spontaneous, gestural representation.
His paintings reveal social realities that are often marginalised or overlooked in Brazil: the bodies of the black population, the energy of the favelas, the spirituality of Candomblé, the dignity of those who stand up against inequality every day. OBastardo transforms these themes into visual poetry that is both an indictment and a celebration – a tribute to survival, beauty and the right to be seen.
OBastardo (born in Rio de Janeiro in 1997) is a Brazilian artist who lives and works between Rio and Paris. Starting with graffiti and urban forms of expression, he developed a figurative visual language during his training at EAV Parque Lage and later at the Beaux-Arts de Paris that focuses on questions of identity, belonging and Black everyday culture. In his paintings, he combines autobiographical experiences with social observation, transforming personal and collective narratives into powerful visual manifestations. His works reflect empowerment, social realities and an aesthetic that consciously opposes marginalising regimes of gaze.
Exhibition details:
Duration: 15 January - 28 February 2026Gallery: 69salon by KORNFELD, Fasanenstraße 69, 10719, Berlin
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
