Marepe (Santo Antônio de Jesus BA 1970)
Marepe is a contemporary Brazilian artist known for his minimalist drawings and sculptures in wood and metal. His work alludes to his origins, the culture and traditions of his homeland. Marepe started the Visual Arts course at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), in Salvador, in 1988. In 1990, he held his first solo exhibition at the Cruz das Almas Cultural Center, in Cruz das Almas, Bahia. The following year, he began the Degree in Drawing and Plastics at UFBA and, for his participation in the 1st Bienal do Recôncavo, held in São Félix, Bahia, received a trip to Germany as a prize. In 1992, he started teaching at the School of Plastic Arts at UFBA. In 1996, he exhibited at the 3rd Salon of Plastic Arts of the Bahia Art Museum (MAM/BA), where he was awarded the Acquisition Award. That same year, he participated in the Antarctica Artes com a Folha, in São Paulo, and was awarded a trip to the Documenta de Kassel, Germany, alongside the artists Rivane Neuenschwander and hair. Since then, he began to exhibit his works, which have as a reference the popular traditions of the Northeast, in several galleries and institutions, both in Brazil and abroad. In 2005, he exhibited at the Pompidou Center, in Paris, as part of the events of the Year of Brazil in France.
Critical Comment
Marepe, at the beginning of his trajectory, makes concrete sculptures. In the 1990s, he began to use everyday objects in his facilities, such as cans of beer, bundles of clothes, cigarette boxes or cardboard. recreates popular scenes from the northeast of Brazil, such as those from the street commerce, in a token stall and calling cards, 1996, or in a poison tent, 1998.
In Filters, 1999, presents several filters of Ceramic water, supported by rustic-looking wooden stools. The objects are strange at first sight, because they have different dimensions than the traditional pieces of use. Marepe explores the poetry obtained by the displacement of objects from their everyday context. At the 25th São Paulo International Biennial, in 2002, it exhibits a 3-ton wall, brought from the Northeast, which contains the painted inscription: "Commercial São Luís, all in the same place at the lowest price", a reference to his father's workplace during many years.
In several works, Marepe's proposal includes the participation of the public, such as in Palmeira Doce, 2001, in which he produces 4,500 bags of cotton candy of different colors, which are hung over the course of the years. from the trunk of a palm tree, in a square in his hometown, and collected by children on the day of Saint Cosme and Damião. In another facility, he puts inflated colored bladders in a room, inviting the audience to pop them. Marepe says that he seeks to address issues related to collective memory, exploring in them the poetic meaning.
Individual exhibitions
1990 - Cruz das Almas BA - Espelho no Escuro, at the Cruz das Almas Cultural Center
1994 - Salvador BA - Do you have a folder, if Costa? Don't deny beasts, there's shit! Do you like? But what an answer, Seu Costa., at the restaurant Cia. das Índias
1994 - Salvador BA - a foot in the nose, at UFBA
1995 - Salvador BA - Casco de Cavalo, at Galeria Acbeu
2000 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Luisa Strina
2002 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Luisa Strina
2004 - São Paulo SP - Desemboladeira, at Pinacoteca do Estado
Collective exhibitions
1991 - São Félix BA - 1st Bienal do Recôncavo, at the Dannemann Cultural Center
1993 - São Félix BA - 2nd Biennial of the Recôncavo, At the Dannemann Cultural Center
1994 - Salvador BA - 1st Mam-Bahia Salon of Plastic Arts, at MAM/BA
1995 - Salvador BA - 2nd Salão Mam-Bahia de Artes Flásicas, in the MAM/BA
1995 - São Félix BA - 3rd Bienal do Recôncavo, at the Dannemann Cultural Center
1996 - Porto Alegre RS - Arte Construtora, on the island of Casa da Pólvora
1996 - Salvador BA - 3rd Salão Mam-Bahia, at MAM/BA  
1996 - São Paulo SP - Antarctica Artes com a Folha, in the Manoel da Nóbrega Pavilion
1997 - Belo Horizonte MG - 25th Belo Horizonte National Art Salon
1997 - Berlin (Germany) - Die Anderen Modernen, at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt
1997 - Curitiba PR - The Contemporary Art of Engraving, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of Curitiba
1997 - Salvador BA - Workshop 97: German and Brazilian artists, at MAM/BA
1998 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 16th National Salon of Plastic Arts, at MAM/RJ
1998 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - MAM Bahia Collection: Contemporary Art, at MAM/RJ
1998 - São Paulo SP - In addition to the Íris Arco, in the MAB/FAAP
1999 - Americana SP - Place from anywhere, at Mac/Americana
1999 - Curitiba PR - Arte-Arte Salvador 450 years old, at the Cultural Foundation of Curitiba. Solar do Barão
1999 - Porto Alegre RS - 2nd Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial, at Armazém do Cais do Porto (formerly Deprec), at Margs and at Espaço Usina Gasómetro
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Arte-Arte Salvador 450 years old, at the Historical Museum of the City of Rio de Janeiro
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - OS 90, at the Imperial Palace
1999 - Salvador BA - Arte-Arte Salvador 450 years old, in the MAM/BA
1999 - São Paulo SP - Daily life/art. Objects 90s, at Itaú Cultural
1999 - São Paulo SP - Nordeste, at Sesc Pompéia
2000 - Americana SP - BR 500, at Mac/Americana
2000 - Campinas SP - BR 500, at MacC
2000 - Lisbon (Portugal) - 20th century: art of Brazil, at the José de Azeredo Perdigão Modern Art Center. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
2000 - Pontevedra (Spain) - 26th Pontevedra Art Biennial, in the Faculty of Social Sciences
2000 - Pontevedra (Spain) - 26th Pontevedra Art Biennial, at Pazo da Cultura de Pontevedra
2000 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brasilidades, at the Light Cultural Center
2000 - Salvador BA - A Quietude da Terra: Vida Daily life, Contemporary Art and Axé Project, at MAM/BA
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition, at the Bienal Foundation
2000 - São Paulo SP - End of Millennium: The Years 90 at MAM, at MAM/SP
2001 - New York (United States) - The Unraveled: Contemporary Brazilian Art, at El Museo del Barrio
2001 - São Paulo SP - 27th Brazilian Art Panorama, at MAM/SP
2002 - Brasília DF - Artephoto, at CCBB
2002 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - The Unraveled: Contemporary Brazilian Art, at the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires
2002 - Curitiba PR - Works of Faxinal das Artes, at MAC/PR
2002 - Liverpool (England) - Pot
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 27th Panorama of Brazilian Art, at MAM/RJ
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Artefoto, at CCBB
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Caminhos do Contemporânea 1952-2002, at Paço Imperial
2002 - Salvador BA - 27th Panorama of Brazilian Art, at MAM/BA
2002 - São Paulo SP - 25th São Paulo International Biennial, at the Bienal
2002 - São Paulo SP - Intimacy, in the Paço das Artes
2002 - São Paulo SP - Paralela, in the shed located at Avenida Matarazzo, 530
2002 - São Paulo SP - Pop Brasil: Popular Art and the Popular in Art, at CCBB
2002 - São Paulo SP - Pot, at Galeria Fortes Vilaça
2003 - Brasília DF - Artephoto, at CCBB
2003 - London (England) - Gambiarra: New Art from Brazil, at the Gasworks Gallery
2003 - São Paulo SP - A Nova Geometry, at the Fortes Vilaça Gallery
2003 - São Paulo SP - Collection 2003 / 2004, at Galeria Luisa Strina
2003 - São Paulo SP - Galeria Luisa Strina: artists represented, at Galeria Luisa Strina
2003 - São Paulo SP - Ordination and vertigo, at CCBB
2003 - Venice (Italy) - 50th Venice Biennale, Arsenale and Giardini della Biennale
2004 - Madrid (Spain) - ARCO/2004, at Parque Ferial Juan Carlos I  
2004 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - New Acquisitions 2003: Gilberto Chateubriand Collection, at MAM/RJ
Source: Itaú Cultural
