2 years without Jaime Ponciano 6 August 2011

Today, 6 August 2011, it's been 2 years since Jaime Ponciano left us. He's still sadly missed by all his friends and fans.

Jaime Ponciano actually died on 5 August 2009 - the same date as Carmen Miranda in 1955 and Marilyn Monroe in 1962. So as one can see, Jaime is in good company. 

 Jaime Ponciano's 'I'm too sexy for my shirt!'

Jaime Ponciano's fashion - 1990.

Jaime Ponciano aka Jaime Silva - 1990. 

Stranded in Cuiabá-de-Cima in May 2010.

Nine months after Jaime Ponciano's death I went to visit his sister Roseli (Tatchi) who lives in Vicente Nunes, a section of Nazaré Paulista-SP. 

Visiting Jaime in Nazaré had always been a major operation due to the many different bus connections I had to take before I reached his lovely little house on top of a hill called Cuiabá-de-Cima. 

Everey time I went to Nazaré I woke up at 4:00 am to get the 4:30 bus from Rio Pequeno to town. Then I changed bus to Armênia Station where I would get me a van or bus to downtown Guarulhos where I'd arrive luckily at 6:30 and waited for the 6:50 Nazaré bus. The trip to Nazaré usually takes 1:15 hours. From Nazaré I had to walk 10 kilometres to get to Cuiabá-de-Cima where Jaime's father had a rural property and Jaime a small house he built in the back of his parent's during the 1990s.  I usually arrived at Jaime's place around 10:30. So, it took me 6 hours to get to Jaime's place from the moment I left home at 4:30 am until I got to his place at 10:30.

This Saturday I arrived at Tatchi at 9:00 - a full hour earlier as one does not have to walk 10 km. She was still in bed but got up and made coffee. I had brought some Italian bread and we had a nice breaky. We talked for a while. Soon, Mr. João da Silva, Jaime's father came to fetch his car that had stayed at Tatchi's front yard overnight. I asked him for a lift up to Cuiabá-de-Cima because I wanted to check Jaime scrap books and stuff he left behind. I knew I had a lift up but didn't know how I would get meself a lift back to town.

1st May 2010 - Saturday.

I am at Jaime's parents' house and I'm about to go to sleep at one of the family's bedrooms.

I spent almost the whole day talking with Nenê, Jaime's brother. He turned out to be such a lovely guy. I thought he would be mean about Jaime's stuff - scrap books, letters, drawings etc. - but I was wrong. I was the one feeling mean and materialistic! I had to get Jaime's scrawlings and note books. That was important to me as if it were a part of him he had left behind.  Nenê even helped me arrange the stuff to be brought home with me.

 

After I wrote that I turned the light off and went to sleep. It felt strange to be sleeping in that place knowing that Jaime was not there anymore. That was the first time I went to visit the place after Jaime's death in August 2009.

 

2nd May 2010 - Sunday.

When I planned to visit Jaime's parents' house I didn't know I would end up spending 3 days here. I usually don't like staying away from home for more than one night and here I was, stuck in Nazaré Paulista for 2 whole days.

When Jaime was alive I usually went to Nazaré to spend the day with him. Arriving at 10 am, staying the rest of the day with him; sleeping over and getting up around 4:00 am next morning and walk all the way from the rural property to the town of Nazaré to get the bus back to Guarulhos around 7:00 am.

Now I knew I could not walk the 10 km to town due to the heavy load which was Jaime's stuff I had collected with his brother Nenê. So I had to rely on someone to give me a lift to town in order to get myself on a bus to Guarulhos or São Paulo.

 

I woke up early on the Sunday. Nenê was going down to the lake to fish so I went along with him. It's funny I visited Jaime so many times and we never had the chance to go down to the lake. We usually had so much to talk about we couldn't be bothered to take the time to go all the way down to the water.

 

I didn't stay long down at the lake but climbed back up to the main house to see if I could get a lift to town somehow. Renata, Jaime's sister, Repilica (Susana) and Bebéia (Rafaela) had stayed overnight at her parents' and were waiting for Sergio - Jaime's brother-in-law - to come and take them to town where they lived. Susana went to Congregation Church for the youth meeting at 10:00 am so I figured Sergio would be back at 12:00 o'clock.

 

Sergio who is an expert in electrical instalations was doing a job around the area and showed up at 12 to have lunch with his family. He said he had to go back to his work for a few hours but would give me a lift to town before 4:00 pm for me to get the Guarulhos bus at 5:00 pm.

  

Night was already falling and Sergio would not show up. I was really dejected doing nothing but waiting for Godot. I really hate to be stuck in a place with no way to get out... and that's how I was feeling. I was praying he'd get me to the bus station on time, but he drove his VW beetle after dark. We drove out of Cuiabá-de-Cima past 7:30 pm. There was no way I would ever get any bus now. So I had to conform and pray I would while away the hours with self composure.

We drove to Sergio & Renata's house in town and they made my bed on the floor for the night. That was my second night away from home. I was mortified but had to put up and shut up! I missed Jaime so much. If he were alive I would never be in such dire straits. I woke up at 3:00 am and would not go back to sleep for fear of missing out the bus to Guarulhos at 4:30 am. Sergio woke up at 4:00 and heated up the coffee. I went out at 4:15 and waited 20 minutes at the bus stop.

 

3rd May 2010 - Monday.

It is strange riding a rural bus at 4:00 am. Most of the people know each other by name and their small talk is really quaint. Most of them fall asleep as soon as they sit down. Others keep a droning conversation that is irritating. We arrived at Santa Terezinha (Fortaleza district) where I got off and I took a bus to São Paulo Armênia Station. At 6:10 am I was still stuck in traffic on the busy Monday morning rush hour in front of Center Norte Shopping Center.  

Ponciano's Interventions

Rua Augusta in the 1960 enhanced by Jaime Ponciano.

woman's bag depicting an ant...

Jeffery Miller & Luiz Amorim photo re-viewed by Jaime Ponciano's eyes & hands.

 Ponciano in a Marcel Marceau study.

 Honeycomb viewed by Jaime Ponciano

Abstract & self-portrait

Two women's faces - by Ponciano

A fashionable woman - by Ponciano

Run for your life by Ponciano 

Jaime Ponciano's self-portrait

Jaime Ponciano's abstract blue & yellow

Ponciano drawing Khalo

Chico Buarque by Ponciano 2006.

An Autumn day watercolour.

Le mesme jour...

Where the sidewalk ends...

Exposição de Jaime Ponciano em Piracicaba-SP

work done by Bebeto.



2011 Ponciano's Exhibition in Piracicaba-SP

Jaime Ponciano circa 2005.

Aí, Galera!

No dia 04 de junho, sábado, a partir das 21h30min, vamos fazer outra cantoria no Bar Cruzeiro, em Piracicaba.

Desta vez, há uma motivação e uma emoção a mais: fecharemos a exposição de arte do nosso querido e saudoso amigo Jaime Ponciano, que, aliás, está belíssima.

Acompanhando minha voz, Samuel Gustinelli fará o seu show no piano e Maicon Araki na percussão.

O endereço do Bar Cruzeiro, pra quem não sabe:

Rua Moraes Barros, 1321 - Fone 19/3422-4780,

fica entre a Rua Santa Cruz e a Rua São João.

Se puderem, divulguem, divulguem, divulguem entre os amigos. Obrigado!

Esperamos vocês por lá!

Beijos e abraços,

Alberto Guerreiro

Jaime e Beto. Jaime e Bar Cruzeiro. Jaime e XV de Piracicaba.

Homens todos olhando pra frente e pra cima, sentados quase lado a lado – e quase só homens. Senhores torcedores. O Bar Cruzeiro, em Piracicaba, abrigava os espectadores da final do Campeonato Paulista A2 (o que houve com a denominação “B”?). O XV de Piracicaba jogava com o Guarani. Alguém imaginaria Jaime Ponciano da Silva presente nesse contexto? E o Beto/Bebeto/Alberto cantando nesse lugar?

O Bar Cruzeiro tem uma outra parte, que é atingida após a travessia de uma espécie de corredor. Uma composição? O inconsciente do Bar? Sua alma? Nada a ver? No nome, o conjunto é Bar Cruzeiro. Nessa outra parte, ainda em um corredor que não permitia imaginar o que viria, duas visões iniciais possíveis: parede ao fundo, antes de ter que se virar à direita, um quadro do Jaime; parede ao lado – ou à frente, se antes da primeira virada, que era à esquerda: dois banners (como Jaime teria chamado isso?), texto do Leonel em um, textos de Luiz Amorim e Marcello Tomazelli no outro. Apresentações do Jaime, não da exposição.

A sensação labiríntica do acesso pareceu um intencional ingrediente para o que se seguia. O Bar Cruzeiro A2/B/Fundos é um amplo espaço – e estava tomado, em todas as paredes, por trabalhos do Jaime.

A apresentação da exposição foi feita pelo Beto, ao abrir sua Cantoria. Houve ainda a possibilidade que ele apresentasse cada obra, comentando fase do artista, a quem pertence, pra quem o interpelasse. Beto fez isso. E também concebeu a exposição – organizou a distribuição de 33 (?) quadros, 8 bonecas, de forma simétrica ou não, como melhor se destacassem as produções. E, ao que parece, também pendurou muito disso. Isso após ter mobilizado os amigos, embrulhado e movimentado quadros de um lugar a outro. Amigo em vida e amigo póstumo.

Amigos desses artistas-amigos-entre-si só podem agradecer. Pela oportunidade de admirar tanto do Jaime colocado em conjunto. Por tê-lo ali tão vivo. Pelo conhecimento de obras dele que moram em ambientes não conhecidos. Pelo empenho do Beto – não só por tornar a proposta da exposição uma realidade, mas por ter dado, com a música e com precioso repertório, plenitude a tudo aquilo.

A quem não pôde viver essa integração, vale a Exposição no Bar Cruzeiro, mesmo que seja uma visita e não uma vivência, como a Abertura. Jaime está lá, em tudo o que fez, em tantos personagens que criou e pintou.Obrigada a todos que permitiram esse reencontro. Alguns torcedores cruzaram o corredor entrecortado e conheceram o Jaime. Os que estavam pelo Jaime não passaram ilesos pela vitória do XV.

Que Jaime e o XV conquistem, mesmo que aos poucos, cada vez mais reconhecimento.

Graça Totaro, 8 maio 2011.

Jaime, Bebeto, Cruzeiro Bar and XV de Piracicaba, a football team

Men looking straight ahead and up sat side by side at Cruzeiro Bar in Piracicaba-SP. Male fans who came to watch the final match between Piracicaba’s XV [home] and Guarani [away]. Would anybody imagine Jaime Silva Ponciano in such a context? And Bebeto singing in such a place?

Cruzeiro Bar has another wing that is reached through a long corridor. A composition? The Bar’s unconsciousness? Its soul? None of the above? At the end of the corridor one has two visions: at the far wall, before one turns to the right, there is a Jaime Ponciano canvas with two banners bearing texts of Leonel in one and Luiz Amorim and Marcelo Tomazelli in the other. Introductions of the artist, not of his exhibition.

The labyrinthian sensation of the access seemed intentional to what followed. Cruzeiro Bar is an ample space and it was taken over by works by Jaime Ponciano. The presentation of the  exhibition was done by Alberto Guerreiro AKA Bebeto while he opened his singing performance. During his musical show he would go back and comment on Jaime’s many ouvres and phases and would also answer questions from the audience.

Bebeto is the exhibition’s curator and the MC at the same time. He organized the laying out of 33 canvas and 8 dolls in a symmetrical fashion or not – in a way that each piece was singled out. Bebeto borrowed Ponciano’s canvas from friends and did a wonderful one-man-job. Friend in life and post-humous friend as well.

Friends of these fellow-artists can only be thankful for the opportunity to marvel at Jaime’s art and to be able to see him so alive in it. To be able to see Jaime’s many canvas that drape unknown walls and unknown places. To thank Bebeto to have made it a reality and also to give his own input with his wonderful music and dedication.

To those who could not experience this ‘happening’ it should be worth a visit to Bar Cruzeiro. Jaime is there in everything he did and all the characters he created and depicted on canvas or other medium. Thanks to those who allowed such a re-acquaintance. Some of the XV fans who passed through that corridor met Jaime for the first time. Those who were there only for Jaime got a hint of XV’s victory.

May Jaime and the XV even if at a slow pace earn them the recognition they deserve.

Graça Totaro, 8 May 2011.

A tribute from Marco Serrão, a friend

Tributo de Marco Antonio Serrão a Jaime Ponciano.

Gosto muito do Jaime.  Acho que, as vêzes, não sabemos nos cuidar e  ficamos a espera que façam isso com a gente! Senti muito a partida dele, mas temos sempre caminhos a tomar e, as vezes, é partindo...

Ele faz falta, claro. A gente conversava coisas sobre viver... sobre desejos, indesejos, vida, morte...

Uma das frases que, me lembro, ele usava sempre era de Clarice Lispector:

... Estou perdida, não tenho saída. Não soube criar subterfúgios. O cotidiano me mata!

Agora me expresso usando as palavras da  própria Clarice Lispector:

‘Sinto saudades dos que se foram e de quem não me despedi direito!’

Marco Antonio Serrão, 15 Maio 2011.

Jaime Ponciano's self-portrait

A tribute from Marco Antonio Serrão to Jaime Ponciano.

I like Jaime a lot. I think, sometimes we don’t know how to take care of ourselves and wait for others to do it. I was really sorry to see him go but we must make decisions and sometimes it is going away. He is sorely missed. We used to talk about living... about desires, un-desires, life, death... One of the phrases I remember him saying was Clarice Lispector’s:

‘I am lost, I’ve got no way out. I didn’t know how to build up subterfuges... Routine kills me!

Now, I make Clarice Lispector’s words my own:

‘I miss those who are gone and to whom I had no chance to say good-bye!’

Marco Antonio Serrão, 15 May 2011.

Há Momentos
There are moments

Há momentos na vida em que sentimos tanto
a falta de alguém que o que mais queremos
é tirar esta pessoa de nossos sonhos
e abraçá-la.

There are moments in life
we miss someone so much
that what we want most is
to take this person from our dreams and embrace him.

Sonhe com aquilo que você quiser.
Seja o que você quer ser,
porque você possui apenas uma vida
e nela só se tem uma chance
de fazer aquilo que se quer.

Dream with what you may, be whatever you want to be
because you own but one life
and you’ve got only one chance
to do whatever you may.

Tenha felicidade bastante para fazê-la doce.
Dificuldades para fazê-la forte.
Tristeza para fazê-la humana.
E esperança suficiente para fazê-la feliz.

May you have enough happiness to make Life sweet
enough difficulties to make it strong
enough sadness to make it human
and enough hope to make it happy.

As pessoas mais felizes
não têm as melhores coisas.
Elas sabem fazer o melhor
das oportunidades que aparecem
em seus caminhos.

The happiest people don’t own the best things
they know how to make the best
of the chances they come across
in their ways.

A felicidade aparece para aqueles que choram.
Para aqueles que se machucam.
Para aqueles que buscam e tentam sempre.
E para aqueles que reconhecem
a importância das pessoas que passam por suas vidas.

Happiness appears for those who cry, for those who get hurt
for those who search and always try
and for those who acknowledge the importance
of the people who pass through their lives.

O futuro mais brilhante
é baseado num passado intensamente vivido.
Você só terá sucesso na vida
quando perdoar os erros
e as decepções do passado.

The brightest future is based on
a past intensively lived.
You will only be successful in life when
you’ll forgive the mistakes and deceptions of the past.

A vida é curta, mas as emoções que podemos deixar
duram uma eternidade.
A vida não é de se brincar
porque um belo dia se morre.

Life’s short but the emotions
we may have left last eternally.
Life is not something to play with
because some sweet day we die.


Clarice Lispector

Rafaela, Ponciano's niece.

Jaime & Marco Serrão, a friend and some time partner-in-crime...