ArtNow - Ed. 10 - Eng.

r e p o r t

ArtNow

Edition 10

January 2026

ArtNow Report

Artistic expression in all its forms

The Quintessence of

Bossa and Jazz

The Quintessence of

Bossa and Jazz

Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

THERE IS A KIND OF

ELEGANCE THAT

CANNOT BE

EXPLAINED — ONLY

RECOGNIZED IN THE

VERY FIRST CHORD.

And there is an invisible line connecting the curves of Rio de Janeiro’s mountains to

the vertical edges of Manhattan. Somewhere in the 1960s, that line ceased to be

geographic and became a sonic frequency. In this historic edition of ArtNow Report,

we celebrate the precise moment when the architecture of sound changed forever,

embodied by two figures who, individually, were giants — but together, reshaped the

landscape of modern elegance: Antonio Carlos Jobim and Frank Sinatra.

It was the complex silence of Bossa Nova that captured the ears of the man who,

until then, had been the definitive voice of America. Frank Sinatra — The Voice, the

man who carried the weight of entire metropolises in his vocal cords, recognized in

Jobim’s minimalism a rare and profound sophistication.

Their meeting, immortalized in the 1967 album, was a study in complementary

contrasts. On one side, Sinatra: the embodiment of whiskey, the perfectly tailored suit,

the neon-lit urban night — a voice that projected power and melancholy with the

force of a skyscraper. On the other, Jobim: the embodiment of salt water, the open

linen shirt, the endless horizon — a timbre that didn’t sing so much as converse with

nature itself.

When their voices came together — the American softening his power to fit the

Brazilian’s delicacy, and the Brazilian structuring his lightness to sustain the weight of

an icon — something magical occurred. Frank didn’t simply sing Bossa Nova; he

allowed Bossa Nova to undress him. “I Concentrate on You” and “The Girl from

Ipanema” ceased to be songs and became landscapes. Visually, it was as if a film

noir were suddenly flooded by an impressionist watercolor. Sinatra’s graphite gray

absorbed Jobim’s cobalt blue.

In “Dindi,” Sinatra sings with a fragility few had ever heard, guided by Tom’s

economical and brilliant piano. Inside that studio, there was no longer a singer and a

composer, no North and South. There was only the pursuit of absolute beauty — the

kind that requires no translation.

That is why, in this special edition of ArtNow Report, we take the editorial liberty of

dividing in order to unite. On the cover of our Portuguese-language edition, Tom

Jobim reigns supreme — the maestro who translated Brazil into high culture. In the

international edition, Frank Sinatra commands the stage — the legend wise enough

to silence the brass section in order to listen to a guitar.

The legacy of this encounter transcends the grooves of vinyl. It defined an era in which

Brazilian music and American jazz fused to create a universal language of elegance

and intellect. Tom and Frank proved that beauty does not need to shout to become

eternal; it needs only truth and precision.

They occupy different covers, but — like the album itself — they are bilingual

and tell the same story: one in which music, at its highest form, becomes an

invisible bridge where the ocean kisses the skyscraper. Where Rio’s swing

taught New York how to breathe, and New York’s sophistication taught Rio how

to endure.

When we look at the Maestro and The Voice, we see more than musicians. We

see the architecture of human emotion in its most refined state.

We invite you to explore this edition of ArtNow Report, where we celebrate the

moment Rio and New York became the same city — a metropolis of sound

and vision that still sets the rhythm for our most sophisticated dreams.

Harmony in Two Time

Signatures

Harmony in Two Time

Signatures

Amanda Medeiros

There are frequencies the human ear can perceive, and there are frequencies only an

artist’s eye can reach. For Amanda Medeiros, the silence of the studio is merely the

prelude to an invisible orchestra. In this historic edition of ArtNow Report, the artist does

more than portray two faces; she gives form to two states of mind that defined the 20th

century. On one side, Bossa Nova — shaped by sea air, whispers, and pauses. On the

other, Jazz — forged in velvet tones, neon lights, and the urgency of the metropolis.

By taking on the dual covers — Tom Jobim for the Brazilian edition and Frank Sinatra for

the international one — Amanda acts as an aesthetic mediator between Rio de Janeiro

and New York. Her painting becomes an imagined studio where salt and gold meet

once again.

When Amanda turns her brush toward Tom Jobim, her gesture shifts. “Tom took the lead

right from the very first brushstrokes,” she reveals. Instinctively, the artist understood

that Bossa Nova is an art of subtraction: excess must be removed so the essential can

resonate. On her canvas, the maestro appears sheltered beneath his hat — his eternal

refuge of shadow and shyness — his gaze drifting toward a horizon that seems to hold

all of Guanabara Bay.

The technique here is a sfumato of the soul. Amanda uses “the least amount of paint

possible,” allowing the canvas to breathe, visually mirroring the way João Gilberto and

Tom revolutionized music — without raising their voices. Black and white is not the

absence of color; it is an atmosphere of mist and sea spray. Here stands the man who

spoke of “delicacy as strength,” translated into an image that carries the calm sound of

the Brazilian soul — a painting that does not impose itself, but welcomes.

“TOM TOOK THE

LEAD RIGHT

FROM THE

VERY FIRST

BRUSHSTROKES,”

THE ARTIST

REVEALS.

“Look at her — so beautiful, so full of grace / That’s her, the girl who

comes and passes by” (“The Girl from Ipanema”)

“Look at her — so beautiful, so full of grace / That’s her, the girl who

comes and passes by” (“The Girl from Ipanema”)

But when she crosses the Atlantic to meet Frank Sinatra, the temperature in

Amanda’s studio rises. If Tom is morning light filtered through leaves, Sinatra is

the reflection of the city that never sleeps. Jazz, with its big bands and blazing

brass, demanded a change in posture: from introspection to exhilaration.

Amanda didn’t just paint the singer; she painted the entity known as “The

Voice.” She sought a visual definition of cool — that timeless elegance that

functions like a tailored suit of armor. In Frank’s face, drawn with a “quiet

confidence,” lies the tension of the stage and total command of the audience.

While Tom looks inward (toward longing), Frank looks outward (toward

conquest). Amanda’s brush gains structure and weight, translating the density

of the orchestras that accompanied him. It is the portrait of a force of nature

dressed in a tuxedo.

The triumph of this series lies in the subtle emotional engineering Amanda

Medeiros constructs. By placing the works side by side, she visually materializes

the mutual respect that inhabited that studio. Tom’s gaze intersects with Frank’s,

creating a magnetic field where painting completes the conversation that

music began.

Before her canvases, melody becomes a physical

presence. Whether in the golden coat of a jaguar

turning its back to us in trust, the monochrome poise

of a Coco Chanel, or the faces of these two titans,

Amanda’s gesture is always one of reverence. She

offers us an invitation to contemplation — a

reminder that beneath the layers of paint pulses a

truth that only those who know how to see sound

are able to hear.

Instagram: @artes_medeiros

www.amandamedeiros.net

Editorial

Art Now Report is a magazine dedicated to

the dissemination of contemporary art in all

its forms and expressions. Our goal is to

provide our readers with a unique and

comprehensive

view

the

art

world,

featuring emerging and established artists,

inspiring exhibitions, critical analysis and

insights into the trends of the current art

scene. With a team passionate about art and

culture, we seek to connect our readers with

the vibrant universe of artistic creation.

A digital publication, Americascom, Inc.

Publishers

Chirlei Bastos/Gilberto Georg

Content Direction,

Art and Research

Chirlei Bastos

Graphic Design

Américascom

Vídeo Marketing and Streaming TV

WWTV Play

Content

Américascom

Marketing Cognitivo e IA

Brandsi

Cover

Amanda Medeiros

E-mail

artnow@artnow.report

Support

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Work by Amanda Medeiros in tribute to Northeastern Brazilian music

“My accordion speaks for me and carries

the sound of my sertão to the world.”

Luiz Gonzaga

Awaken your creativity. Welcome to ArtNow Report.

January 2026

Painting

Sculpture

Music

Photography

of Simone Momente

Carnegie Hall Under the Baton

There are spaces that aren’t simply built—they’re composed. Carnegie Hall

is one of those temples where architecture bows to symphony, and every

angle resonates with the memory of a chord. For the special edition “Music

You Can See,” artist Simone Momente, a master at weaving memory

through collage, turns her gaze to this icon not to document it, but to reveal

its deepest essence. Her work becomes an invitation to synesthesia, where

the silence of paper and the layering of textures transform into the most

complex and sophisticated of scores. Where music fades, Simone’s art

begins, uncovering the tactile composition hidden beneath marble and

velvet.

Simone’s Carnegie Hall isn’t a building plotted on a map of New York; it’s a

structure raised from memory. In her hands, collage—her signature

technique, executed with the precision of orchestration—becomes a way to

fragment reality and rebuild it in layers of emotion. Each cut of paper acts

like a note in a complex score, where overlapping textures emulate the

harmonic density of a philharmonic orchestra on the brink of a fortissimo.

There is, however, a subtle “luthiery” in her process. Simone listens to color

before she applies it. Guided by the vocal elegance of Frank Sinatra and the

bossa-nova sophistication of Tom Jobim, she gives the piece a rhythm that

floats between the swing of jazz and the melancholy of an Ipanema sunset.

Under her gaze, the building breathes. The curved lines and waves running

through the composition aren’t ornamental—they’re the graphic translation

of the audience’s heartbeat, the seismographic record of the collective

emotion that turned that place into a sanctuary.

Simone creates while listening to music—but works in silence. It is in this

contrast that her art takes shape, suspended between external stimuli and

internal listening. During the creation of this piece, Frank Sinatra and Tom

Jobim were her accomplices. “Every piece has its own tempo,” she says—and

it’s easy to feel that rhythm in the composition: bursts of intensity and sharp

breaks followed by slow, almost meditative gestures. It is as if the artist

dances with the memories that music awakens.