B3’s Golden Bull is Styrofoam, anti-ostentatious and does not copy Wall Street, says author

Dudalina’s light blue shirt and hair with a classic dress cut, short on the sides and slightly longer on the top, gave architect and artist Rafael Brancatelli, 41, an air of financial market professional during lunch at the Café. Girondino, in downtown São Paulo, a three-minute walk from the golden bull statue he designed, carved and helped to install at the door of the B3, the Brazilian Stock Exchange.

Brancatelli earns a living as an entrepreneur. He owns an architecture office based on the same street as the café. It serves Brazilian and foreign customers. He grew up in Mooca, on the east side of the capital, where he studied at a public school, worked as a salesman and designed parts for a shower factory to pay for college.

He is married, has four children: the youngest is 6 years old, two girls aged 7 and 8, and a boy aged 22. He also has a granddaughter aged 4 years.

When he imagined the sculpture, he says, he wanted to attract tourists to a center depleted by the pandemic, and his main inspiration was the zodiac. “I am of the sign of Taurus”, he says. He didn’t think about selling the idea to the Stock Exchange, where he still doesn’t invest, but he found in it the only sponsor interested in keeping the project in the heart of the city and not in the region of Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima, west side, the financial hub in São Paulo.

He disagrees with the protests that associate his creation with injustices produced by capitalism and rejects claims that he made a copy of the famous Bull of Wall Street, made of bronze three decades ago and installed in New York, in the United States.

The Golden Bull, as the Brazilian version is called, is filled with high-density styrofoam and was thought to be cheap and “anti-ostentatious”, according to its creator.

The Golden Bull generated protests and criticism. Are you having some kind of attack? Yes. I have received attacks on social media and phone calls from people who are against it for some reason. They thought it was ugly or that it represents some kind of political ideal, which it wasn’t, and even making some kind of threat. I think people are entitled to an opinion. I have reacted naturally. Art doesn’t have to be something beautiful. That’s what a lot of people didn’t understand.

There are people who complain that it is not the same as in New York. My idea was never to be equal to anything. And it wasn’t something to be just beautiful. Art is not that. Art represents a feeling as well as a message. The message to the city is good. It is to encourage tourism. Bring other people to know the beauties that we have here.

I have also received messages from people, merchants in the region, praising. A message I received yesterday [quinta,18] left me moved. The guy from a diner said he sold double after the bull was placed.

​How did you become a visual artist? I had a lot of encouragement from my maternal grandfather, who taught me calligraphy, drawing and taught me how to make caricatures. I lived in Mooca, in an Italian village. My father was a designer of parts for the plastic industry. He was self-taught. He always had a very design-oriented thing.

I studied at a public college. I didn’t come from a rich family. I worked in a store, with a salesperson, to pay for college. During college I started doing drawings as a freelancer for jewelry stores, shower industries, designing pieces. With that money I paid for college, I’m an architect and plastic artist.

I grated. It was not easy. Sometimes I was six months late and had to pay the amount to be able to re-enter. It’s hard to talk about personal life. I am not used to.

When did the idea of ​​making the bull come about? At the beginning of the pandemic. I belong to a group called Pró-Centro, a group of people, businessmen, who are always articulating things for the good, to try to improve. Then I thought, hey, what could I do to help. I am an artist, I make paintings, drawings and sculptures. How can I collaborate? I’m going to make a sculpture. It’s something that will draw attention, encourage tourism. People frequent more places that have a work of art. They go there to take pictures and everything.

I thought about raising a bull because it’s an animal I like. I am of the sign of Taurus. It is an animal present all over the world and is a symbol of strength, endurance and resilience. The bull is brave. If a lion shows up, he’ll face it. You’ve probably seen a video of a bull hitting from the bottom up, making the predator fly. I identify with the animal.

I thought about Pablo [Spyer, apresentador e empresário] because he has the bull as a symbol.

Spyer and you already knew each other? When I got the idea not yet. I looked for him. I spoke to a friend who introduced me to him. Then we started having weekly conversations about the subject.

Did you seek him out as a sponsor? As a partner, who had the power of disclosure.

Were you willing to bear the costs yourself? He was willing to pay with his own resources. Me and Pablo. We had the money to execute.

Was the intention always to place the bull in front of the Stock Exchange? Who suggested B3 was Pablo. He said it was a credible and neutral company that is at the center by choice.

Have you ever been to New York’s financial district? Have you seen the Wall Street Bull? Yes. I saw it.

What do you think? All the other bulls I’ve seen on the internet are similar. Each has a different impact. Some more robust. I think it’s a beautiful piece.

The New York Bull is its main inspiration. Did you copy Charging Bull? It’s not a copy. The idea was to have an original bull and that his design could represent strength and courage. He has a defiant look in his eyes. He’s looking relatively calm, but meaning that if trouble comes, he [o touro] goes up. Will get over it. I haven’t copied any designs. From the beginning I wanted it to be something different. Some people even blame me for not being like other bulls.

His sculpture has exaggerated lines, is robust and also has very rounded lines. Why? He is more muscular. The essence of the idea is the most common bull in Brazil, which is more similar to the Asian bull in origin. It has a kind of hump, a lump in the back. [também chamada de cupim]. I decided to act like this to be more like the Brazilian royal bull. Of course, you expand these dimensions a little so that he is muscular, with a high hump, to give an impression of strength. I also had a concern about the risk of someone trying to climb up and getting hurt. I drew the picture of his back trying to make it difficult. It is more rounded and protruding.

Jacob Harmer, former agent of Arturo di Modica (1941-2021), author of Bull of Wall Street, said the artist’s family was not approached to discuss copyright. I didn’t see the point in asking permission from anyone. If we wanted to copy, I believe it would make sense to look for it, but that was never the idea.

He also said that the bull on the Brazilian stock exchange is made with cheap material. We are in a pandemic season. If we were to use an expensive material, a noble metal, such as copper, bronze, aluminum or brass, the work would be super expensive. It would be difficult to make it possible, for the price. We didn’t want to use metallic materials so as not to become a matter of ostentation. It’s supposed to be anti-ostentatious. Another factor regarding the material is that copper and brass things here in town are stolen. They steal things from cemeteries. We would make the risk of theft worse. Even the information plate is made of polycarbonate. It is very resistant, but has no commercial value. I thought of something with no commercial value and not spending a lot of money at such a difficult time.

What exactly is this bull made of? It has a very strong iron tubular metal frame, an EPS fill. [sigla para poliestireno expandido, mais conhecido como isopor] High density, fiberglass and artistic painting.

Is it automotive painting? It is an artistic, automotive painting, because it has an artistic process to make. It’s not the same in the industry. It’s not like a car.

What will happen after the expiry of the three-month authorization period for the exhibition? I haven’t thought about it yet, but it’s owned by B3, which might want to take it to stocks elsewhere, if we can’t get a permit to stay any longer.

How much did B3 pay for the work? Paid the costs. I can’t say how much it was, it’s a contract. I didn’t keep a real one.

Are there more orders for bulls? There are more people asking me for bulls and other types of sculptures. I have received orders to make sculptures of family members and other animals.

Before the agreement with B3, other companies wanted to sponsor the bull? We talk to some people. Two financial institutions came to us.

Were they from Faria Lima? They wanted to take it to Faria Lima. Pablo and I didn’t accept it, because one of the reasons was to encourage tourism in the center. I am passionate about the architecture and history of our city and I wanted more people to visit the center.

I have foreign clients, who hire me to design company headquarters. I always bring them for a tour of the center.

Some of the protests use the B3’s Golden Bull to draw attention to the misery, to famine, which has intensified in the pandemic. What do you think about this? I believe that one thing has absolutely nothing to do with the other. I am an artist and I can contribute my art by making a sculpture to bring tourists. The issue of hunger is very complex. Within my limits, I’m not a politician, I did what I could. I believe that people should think yes about how to eradicate hunger. I believe that the financial market, B3, somehow encourages human development by promoting companies that, growing, will generate more jobs and everyone will have dignity. I understand the demonstrations, but I don’t see a correlation. If so, could you no longer do a painting? A sculpture? Couldn’t there be Carnival?

But this debate generated a reflection, didn’t it? Before we started the interview, you commented that you are discussing a social project with B3. Yes. We decided to carry out a project, which is still in its embryonic stage, of financial education for people who do not have access to this information. For children and teenagers. It’s not my thing, I’m not from the financial market, but Pablo and B3, with the strength they have… We’re thinking about it together. It would be our contribution. As an architect, I can design the space, create the space, bring the right people together to participate, taking advantage of this visibility.

Do you invest in the stock market? Not.

Are you learning more about it? Maybe I’ll start earning money with this exposure and then I’ll start investing (laughs).

Do you regret getting into this story? No. The goal was achieved. People are taking pictures at any time, even in the rain.