His firm, meticulous lines build images that captivate—but also expose, reclaim, and honor.
What could be just drawings in someone else’s hands become living documents in his: a
visual chronicle of the Afro-Brazilian experience. The ballpoint pen, simple and familiar, takes
on profound meaning in Elson Júnior’s hands.
Elson chooses to give voice to the unheard. With his distinctive technique, he recreates scenes
that transcend time and space, drawing connections between past and present, Brazil and
the world—like in his recent portraits of friends who traveled to Paris, capturing with elegance
and depth the symbolic power of these encounters.
His path is deeply rooted in Afro-descendant culture and shaped by an aesthetic grounded in
memory and identity. It was in Salvador, within the powerful current of Black artistic
movements, that Elson found the wellspring of his deepest inspirations. The streets, faces,
sounds, and cultural legacy of the city shaped his gaze and artistic language.
A graduate in Fine Arts from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Elson explored many
techniques before finding his unique voice in the precision of the ballpoint pen. While much of
the art world turns to new technologies and elaborate materials, he moves in the opposite
direction—returning to what’s essential and transforming simplicity into strength.
To Elson, the ballpoint pen isn’t a limitation—it’s his tool for resistance, his emotional extension,
his poetic weapon. With it, he crafts narratives that are dense, delicate, and visceral. His work
speaks of resistance, ancestry, faith, and beauty—with a precision that deeply moves those
who see it.
Each piece is a political gesture, a quiet yet unwavering stand against historical erasure. The
faces he draws—many of them friends, living symbols of a generation moving between
Salvador and Paris—become living testaments to Afro-Brazilian resilience. And in every line,
there’s memory, courage, and celebration.
In Elson Júnior’s art, every line is a verb and every image a manifesto. With his ballpoint pen,
he writes chapters of a story that must not be forgotten—and invites the world to take a
second look. From Paris to Bahia, his drawings form emotional maps of belonging and
resistance.