Gessiron Alves Franco (Goiás Velho, GO, 1947). Painter, sculptor, illustrator, draftsman, engraver and art director. He moved to Goiânia in 1950, where he studied painting with D. J. Oliveira (1932-2005) and Cleber Gouvêa (1942-2000) in 1960, the same year in which he also became a student of the School of Fine Arts at Universidade Católica de Goiânia. Between 1969 and 1971, he attended the studios of Bernardo Cid (1925-1982) and Walter Levy (1905-1995), in São Paulo, being part of the group that organized the exhibition Surrealismo e Arte Fantástica, at Galeria Seta. In 1975, with the prize of a trip abroad, he resided between European capitals and Brazil. In 1979, he started the Ver-A-Cidade project, making several interferences in the urban space of Goiânia. Between 1985 and 1987, he did art direction for television documentaries such as Xingu, conceived by Washington Novaes, awarded a gold medal at the Seoul International Television Festival. Since 1986, he has been making public monuments, based on the social reality of the country. Between 1992 and 1997, he illustrated several books, such as O Desafio do Branco, by Antonio Carlos Osório, O Forasteiro, by Walmir Ayala (1933-1991), and Contos que Valem uma Fábula: História de Animais Animados, by Katia Canton (1962), among others.
SIRON Franco. In: ENCICLOPÉDIA Itaú Cultural de Arte e Cultura Brasileiras. São Paulo: Itaú Cultural, 2021. Available at: <http://enciclopedia.itaucultural.org.br/pessoa8771/siron-franco>. Accessed on: 26 Jun. 2021. Encyclopedia entry. ISBN: 978-85-7979-060-7