De-Exile: Jean Wyllys

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Image courtesy of La Virreina

This exhibition brings together almost a hundred drawings, compositions and collages created by Jean Wyllys (Alagoinhas, Brazil, 1974) during his exile. It is a kind of log with which the artist narrates his subjectivity, his memories, his mythologies and his ways of taking the floor and politicizing existence.

Jean Wyllys (Alagoinhas, Bahia, Brazil, 1974) served as a federal deputy with the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) between 2010 and 2018. Since then he has been in exile as a result of death threats and homophobic and racist persecution based on fake news during the candidacy and subsequent presidency of the far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.

 A prominent LGBTI rights activist, during his time in parliament Wyllys played a crucial role in the repeal of some articles of the Brazilian Civil Code that regulated same-sex marriage and in the recognition of the labor rights of sex workers. He also proposed to legalize and regulate the production of marijuana, as well as to provide government funding for sexual reassignment surgery and hormonal treatment for transgender people.

De-exile presents almost a hundred drawings, collages and compositions that chart the artist’s daily life, including his memories, his opinions, his mythologies and his dialogues with what is happening and with his critical subjectivity. Including portraits of characters from popular culture, dissident allegories, nappies, paper bags, newspapers, coffee, wax and watercolors, Wyllys’s plastic work shows a drive to speak out, an urgent, untimely and unavoidable irruption.

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