B. 1946 - Born Fernando de Jesus Oliveira in Bahia, Brazil in 1946, the artist who goes by the simple name of Ferjo is one of the most dynamic and intriguing artists on the contemporary American scene. His surreal, even metaphysical way with a canvas has been lauded earlier, with Ferjo winning the prestigious Crescent Scholarship at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the New York council for the Arts Award for Excellence in portraiture. Ferjo's work partakes of both the old masters and the 20th century surrealists, Vermeer and deChirico, of the hieroglyphs of the waking eye and the technicolor bounty of the eye asleep, in dreams. Ferjo is a master painter with a style he can truly call his own, a style which reassures the heart with its beauty, while astounding the perceptions with constant visual surprise.