Os Últimos Verdes: Galeria Luisa Strina

Bahia-born artist has a brand-new exhibit based on childhood memories and the hinterland towns. Gallery and artist celebrate 10 years of partnership.

Marepe presents the individual exhibit “Os Últimos Verdes” (The Last Greens) at Galeria Luisa Strina between the 4th of August and the 11th of September. The artist has found inspiration in the memories of his childhood and the towns of north-eastern Brazil’s hinterland. Nine works (sculptures, photographs and video) which unravel the artist’s concern with nature and recall the production cycle of Marepe – who has already had individual exhibitions at MAM-SP (São Paulo Museum of Modern Art) and at the Centre Georges Pompidou (France) – will be displayed. “Os Últimos Verdes” (The Last Greens) takes over three floors and the terrace of the São Paulo gallery. Marepe usually proposes a different reading of everyday objects, one example of which is the work “Camas ao Vento” (Beds in the Wind) in which popular folding beds assume new shapes when referring to windy skies and red-and-black-winged birds. “In the old days, I used to observe many of these birds in my hometown, Santo Antônio de Jesus. Now, seeing them is a much rarer event”, realises Marepe. Works such as “O Coro de Lata” (The Tin Choir) and “Metamorfose” (Metamorphosis) also demonstrate the matter of dislocated objects – jugs, funnels, pans and metal washbowls – as springboards to new meanings. The never-before-seen 1999 video “Untitled”, dealing with recycling and materials reuse, will be shown at the exhibition. The video can be watched from two wooden benches carved in the shape of champagne bottles’ seals. At the end of the video, Marepe revisits the 1996 “Cabeça Acústica” (Acoustic Head), a flagship work in his career. About Marepe Marepe (Marcos Reis Peixoto) was born in 1970 in Santo Antônio de Jesus (Bahia, Brazil). He has studied visual arts at the UFBA (Federal University of Bahia) School of Fine Arts. In the 90s, he became one of Brazil’s nationally and internationally successful artists.

The artist has already had individual exhibitions at MAM-SP (São Paulo Museum of Modern Art), at the Centre Georges Pompidou (France) and Tate Modern (England). His works have also been present at the Venice Bienalle (2003), the São Paulo Art Biennial (2004) and the Mercosul Biennial (1999), as well as group shows in other important centres worldwide, such as the Reina Sofia Museum (Spain).