Marcelo Pino

Advertising Creative and Film Director – my artistic journey reignited after a comprehensive photographic exploration of the graffiti in São Paulo’s city center and peripheral neighborhoods (Brazil), offering a deeply personal perspective on the beauty of chance and urban landscapes. I captured small frames within these vast graffiti murals that held intriguing interferences from street art, time, passersby, and the urban ecosystem, yet all formed into harmonious, enigmatic, and thought-provoking compositions. This research rekindled my passion for painting.

Influenced by graffiti and my fascination with art and culture, I have been exploring ways to merge urban graffiti with classical elements, Brazilian cultural themes like Cordel, and personal symbols from my imagination to create truly unique interpretations. My primary mediums are spray paint, Posca markers, and oil paints, used across my canvases.

While I don’t have formal or academic art training, I took an Introduction to Drawing course at the UFRGS School of Fine Arts at age 19, studying under Brazilian artist and professor Jailton Moreira. I returned to painting at age 52 and am now 54. Recently, I completed a course with the same professor that focused on art discourse. I learn primarily through observation and practice in my studio, along with studying the techniques of oil paint manipulation. Ultimately, hands-on work and studying the works of master artists have been my best teachers.

Reflecting my preference for minimal self-promotion, I haven’t pursued traditional exhibitions. Instead, I organize “pop-up exhibitions” in cities I travel to. Here’s how it works: I print smaller versions of my work on high-quality canvas, leaving a white border for framing. I then place these pieces in strategic locations for people to find, frame, and display in their homes. In a corner of each piece, I include my Instagram handle, @streetvernissage.mp, so people can connect with my art in a way where I remain anonymous. This method allows for authentic interaction, letting the art speak directly to viewers. Followers on Instagram also stay updated with my work. To date, I have held these spontaneous exhibitions twice in Buenos Aires and once in Miami.