Rafael Borjes is a painter of African divinities. At the age of seven, with the support of a family from Salvador, he entered the school by the name of Colégio Salesiano, in Salvador. By 1938, he was already a pai de santo [male priest of Candomblé] and his house was functioning as a Candomblé terreiro [worship center]. His first paintings were made for religious purposes. MASP possesses two artworks by him, donated by the artist. In Oxosse na sua caçada [Oshosi Hunting], Rafael Borjes painted the divinity Oxóssi [Oshosi], the orisha of hunting, forests and animals. On the canvas, a road that begins in the lower part makes a turn to follow the river, creating an intuitive depth. Some canoes seem to connect the patches of land separated by the river. Various animals participate in the scene: a snake, an armadillo, a dragonfly, a pig, a lizard, some deer, and others. Dressed in green, blue and yellow, Oxóssi is carrying a shotgun. All of the animals are heading in the same direction, except for the snake. Orishas are divinities of the Yoruba peoples, from the West Coast of Africa, associated with nature. This cultural origin arrived in Brazil by way of slaves and was reconfigured into religions such as Umbanda and Candomblé, shining expressions of the resistance of black culture.
— MASP Curatorial Team, 2015
