Marepe (1970) is recognized for his research centered on personal experience and affection, which transmutes everyday items into artifacts charged with memory and critical commentary on social dynamics. Through sculptures, photographs, drawings, installations, and readymades, he explores the tension between the artisanal and the industrial, the local and the global, the subjective and the collective, creating situations that evoke—with a candid sense of humor—the specificities of life in the interior of Bahia, as well as a poetics of universal character with the power to connect audiences from different backgrounds.

Objects such as radiators, clay filters, or umbrellas appear reconfigured through gestures that reveal the beauty and symbolic power of simple things. By bringing these elements into the exhibition space, Marepe renews his investigation into the boundaries between art and life, creating a path that points to his roots in Santo Antônio de Jesus while inviting the public to reflect on belonging, labor relations, change, and the passage of time.

The artist has had solo exhibitions at MAM-SP, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, and Tate Modern, London. His work has also been presented at the Bienal de São Paulo (2004), Bienal de Veneza (2003), Bienal do Mercosul (2023, 1999), 3ª Bienal da Bahia, Salvador (2015), as well as in group exhibitions in major museums such as Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain. Collections that include his work are: Tate Collection, England; Ellipse Foundation, Portugal; CACI Centro de Arte Contemporânea Inhotim, Brazil; MAM-SP Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil; MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, USA.

Sem título (2025) is a monotype in which we observe a figure in profile, walking in high boots across a grayish ground, passing through columns of the same tone and a pinkish background. Marepe’s work acquires a complex layering of references and meanings through the use of ready-made materials and everyday objects. In the words of curator Jens Hoffman, “In a moment of global cultural homogenization, his works carry an exceptional form of authenticity, speaking of the unique cultural particularities of the place he calls home-Bahia, while proposing an argument that is globally comprehensible. The attraction of his works lies in their exotic nature, which speaks to the fusion of cultures of which he is a witness.”