By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – For his second exhibit in Rio’s Galeria Homegrown (Homegrown Gallery), Brazilian graffiti artist Márcio SWK will present a collection of his paintings entitled, “Imaginação” (“Imagination”). Opening today, Wednesday, March 9th, in the Ipanema gallery space, the artist’s work once again explores abstract use of letters in urban street art.
SWK is a practiced researcher of letters and their formats, but the new work also harmonizes strong colors and plays with compositions. “Always in my paintings the goal is to match colors.”
“In this exhibition, one of the ideas is that the public interpret the screens in different ways and develop the imagination about what you see,” said the artist, who worked for three months in the works of new shows.
“Each screen painted is a letter. But one can see something different. I know I painted the letter L, for example, but it’s nice to hear the person saying it is seeing a train, buildings, or a horizon with sun.”
The Imagination exhibit presents seven works, all geometric paintings. The canvases – linen with cedar frames – were produced with different types of materials, namely acrylic paint, spray paint, oil pastels and graphite pencil. The sizes of the artwork range from 80x60cm and 170x150cm.
Márcio SWK also shares some of the inspiration for the colors used. “Indian culture serves as a stimulus for my work, the colors of India inspire me a lot, I am always researching, but my inspiration also comes from everything that I see on the street… people clothes, for example,” explains artist, who last showed work at the gallery in 2014.
A member of the Santa Crew and FleshBeckCrew, SWK has exhibited in Amsterdam, Beirut, Paris, Berlin, Miami, Buenos Aires and São Paulo, also making history as one of the first Brazilians to create works in a venue in Abu Dhabi. Additionally, his works have been used by and made into prints for large companies including Samsung, Nike, Nestle and Ray Ban.
The Homegrown Gallery Ipanema, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, is part of the contemporary setting of the urban art scene in Brazil. Since 2006, they have held exhibitions of artists from different segments such as graffiti and street artists, illustrators, photographers, designers and tattoo artists.
In 2014, SWK told The Rio Times, “Homegrown has been supporting street art and artists for a long time. For sure here in Rio they have increased support for the art. They’ve been growing every day along with the artists and it’s nice to have it all together so everyone can reap the rewards.”
What: Márcio SWK “Imaginação” (“Imagination”) Exhibition
When: Opening is Wednesday, March 9th, from 6PM – 10PM,exhibition runs March 9th to April 2nd
Where: Homegrown Gallery, Rua Maria Quitéria, 68 – Ipanema – RJ
Entrance: Free