By Reed V. Horth
Photography by Gio Alma
Since 1993, an enigmatic artist has branded himself and South Florida through a unique style, effective marketing and an easily digestible message: happiness. Romero Britto, who could pass for a soccer star from his native Brazil, sports a wide smile and a trademark bonnet of unruly brown hair. He views a positive attitude as universal and believes that having one can affect change.
“Happiness is a common feeling no matter where you wake up on the globe,” he says with certitude. “Peace, love, hope. We want all these good things. I think this is my dialogue with the public.” While to some, optimism is perceived as artificial, to Britto, a genuine smile is sometimes just what some people need to get through the day. “[My art] is nothing you see on the television or in the papers,” he says. “A lot of times, artists express themselves that way…I see what is happening around the world, I see pain; there are victories and losses, but I definitely want to focus on something more positive.”
Britto utilizes vibrant colors and bold patterns under hard-outlined, easily deciphered shapes of dancing children, flowers, cats and dogs living in harmony. This is completed under the rubric of Pop art, which began as the successful melding of graphic design and high art by icons such as Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein.
“I love Pop art,” Britto says. “But there is still so much to be done.” Instantly recognizable from a distance, traditional Pop icons co-opt images of daily life, such as advertisements, comic strips and product labels, to create their art. Conversely, Britto creates art that can seamlessly be blended into everyday life, including use in advertisements. His strong visual identity creates both brand recognition and a spontaneously positive response. “People who are attracted to my art like fun stuff and like to be surrounded by positive things,” Britto states. “This is an opportunity that I have. My language is a universal language. People get it.”
Britto has become a de facto ambassador for Miami in the eyes of the world by creating sunny images that tourists bring home as mementos. But now, one is just as likely to enjoy Britto’s work at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport or Salvador Airport in Brazil. This diaspora of Britto’s paintings, prints and merchandise brings a little bit of happiness and a little bit of South Florida to cities around the world.
POP ART: Artist Romero Britto’s signature works are synonymous with South Florida’s colorful vibe, making him the unofficial ambassador to the region.
“People that come to South Florida come for a vacation or to their home here,” he says. “The area has this sort of positive air all the time. As an artist, I feel that inside myself.” Britto recalls Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado’s mention of him during a recent speech: “He said, ‘Britto is as important to Miami as the water is.’ That was the most incredible compliment. I’ll never forget it.”
Britto fortuitously opened his gallery in an area that afforded him both ready access to tourists and low rents. As South Beach grew beyond snowbirds to become a chic international destination and the gateway to South America, Britto enmeshed himself into the fabric of Miami. “If you are a famous movie star, success comes like a wave, or a tsunami,” he says. “In my case, it has been a slow graduation.”
One by one, South Florida power brokers comingled with tourists and foreigners to create a slow brew of success for Britto as each vied for the next commission. Further, Britto adapted a two-tiered model of using commercial prints and daily-use products, such as mugs, T-shirts, luggage, watches and purses, to support his lucrative commissions of original paintings and sculpture.
“I like my art to be part of people’s lives,” he says. His paintings and sculptures have also found institutional placements, including at a children’s hospital in Basel, Switzerland; the Museo de Artes Contemporáneo in Caracas, Venezuela; the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai; a children’s museum in Fulda, Germany; a shopping plaza in Campos do Jordão, Brazil; the São Paolo Museum and the Museum of Art & Science in Tallahassee.
More recently, Britto’s stature received a jolt when his portrait, American Dream, of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy, sold for $250,000 during Sotheby’s record-breaking contemporary art auction in May 2015. The painting, which portrays an elegant and stoic couple surmounting an American flag, was donated by Britto and sold to benefit Best Buddies International, a charity founded in 1989 by Anthony Shriver, nephew of President Kennedy, to promote opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Shriver and his wife, Alina, have been supporters and friends of Britto’s since the early days in his career. “Alina has been part of my team for more than 20 years,” Britto says. “So, it’s really special to help them.”
Having Britto’s work sell alongside the likes of contemporary art and postmodernist luminaries such as Jeff Koons, Shepard Fairey, Jim Dine and Jasper Johns helps place him securely amongst their ranks in front of an international audience.
Whether in person or over an ocean, Britto has spent more than 20 years discovering his own way to export his unique brand of South Florida sunshine to the far reaches of the globe. And in the process, he has redefined the genre of Pop art.
Originally appeared in the Fall 2015 issue.
