Marinho

Marinho is a well-known figure in Rio, at least visually. His signature black ink eye can be found in pretty much every neighborhood in Rio, frequently in very unexpected locations. Many believe that his work is meant to emulate that of O Profeta, a graffiti poet that died ten years ago, whose work can still be seen around the Rodoviaria. O Profeta used uniform tall lettering to recount passages from the Bible and his interpretations of them. There is a crew of Profeta devotees that maintain his work and paint over the letters multiple times a year. Marinho resides in Santa Teresa and is known to have a formal education in art. In this way, he is a bridge between the two realms of marginalized art. On one end, he is one of the resident artists of a well- known and elite art gallery called A Gentil Carioca, located in Centro. This gallery hosts both international and national experimental artists and was sited by the New York Times as evidence of Rio's up-and-coming art scene. However, it is hard to deny that most of Marinho's work takes place in the street and is, in fact, graffiti. His art is very thematic with the constant repetition of what appears to be a Christ figure and an omnipresent eye all through out the city of Rio. His style is simplistic and reminiscent of the art movement, Primitivism, stresses the return of purity to art by fully indulging the senses. He works mostly in black and white with dashes of colors to highlight. According to a friend, "ele tem a cabeça nas nuvens mas é um cara legal."("he always has his head in the clouds but he's a cool guy.) There real question is, if you can find Waldo on every page, where do you find Marinho?
Here are my attempts: