Particularly between 2023 and 2024, the production of artist Gilberto Marques has focused on a reflection on materiality, belonging, presence, time and memory. In this journey, the review and transformation of previous works highlighted the relationship between time and memory, establishing these elements as central axes in the discussion on “value”. This creative and production process revealed to the artist the breadth of possibilities that emerge from the investigation, enabling the construction of forms and beginning to be understood as a mapping of origins, temporality and mutation, where elements connect to dialogue about matter, gesture, movement, color and space.
This approach allows time and memory to be treated in overlapping layers, whether in a single work or in the entire production, which is structured as an ongoing project of research and resignification.
How would you describe your artistic style?
It is interesting that my work is seen under the umbrella of Pop Art and Robert Rauschenberg. I share with Duchamp an interest in subverting the art system in some way, but especially the way of seeing the "proper place for art". However, personally, I prefer the shadow of Hélio Oiticica and Nelson Lerner, already detached from post-concretism. In any case, I am a contemporary visual artist, totally influenced by postmodern art.
What themes do you prefer to explore in your works?
In recent years, especially between 2023 and 2024, my production has focused on a reflection on materiality, belonging, presence, time and memory. Along the way, the review and transformation of previous works highlighted the relationship between time and memory, consolidating these elements as central axes in a discussion on “value”.
The creative and production process of the work Encapsulado (2024) revealed to me the breadth of possibilities that emerge from this investigation, enabling the construction of forms, which are now understood as a mapping of origins, temporality and mutation, where elements connect to dialogue about matter, gesture, movement, color and space.
What is your creative process like?
I usually say that first of all, mental. Didactically, it starts mentally, as if I were gathering all the information, references, materials and construction process into a tangle of images, from which an image or composition usually emerges. Then, writing, when I start to describe to myself the concept, or the story, product, whatever. Then, collecting materials, manufacturing, adapting, reusing... Finally, the production itself, the construction of the work. I no longer use the term studio, but rather workshop, given the characteristic of "making, constructing" the work.
What materials and techniques do you use most often?
I often work with collages and assemblages. It turns out that the two-dimensional space was no longer supporting the volume that I was giving to my works. Sculpture allows me to transgress, which is inherent to the technique, of course. It is true that I often explore the wall, a two-dimensional space, as a support for these sculptures, creating a figure-background relationship that is different from what is expected. Various cardboards, packaging boxes, wood, plastic waste, hardware, threads and strings, spray paint, industrial paints, and materials preferably collected or recycled are what I currently use in the production of my works.
What is the meaning of art in your life?
It may sound cliché, but I can categorically say that art saves. For an artist who survived severe depression, who is experiencing the best creative moment of his career at the age of 62, and facing all kinds of adversities that the current moment imposes, there would be no other path than art. This is very particular and personal, but art is the source of energy that keeps me alive, active, resilient, empathetic, hopeful. It is what allows me to have new experiences, new speeches, dialogues. Through it, I can give names and new names to my reality. It is the main barrier that keeps my emotional reserve safe.
What advice would you offer to artists just starting out?
Whenever I start a conversation with artists who are just starting out or who are just starting out and feel lost along the way, I ask them a question: "What kind of artist do you want to be?" It is from this question and the entire dialogue that follows that we build a consensus together, more than just advice. Obviously, because what is good for me may not be good for someone else. In this construction, we ask and answer questions, not only about art, but about life. It is from this dialogue that the new persona is usually born, with the vision and clarity of the artist they seek to be. From there, it is possible to add: worry about managing your career; study, research, experiment; produce consistently; exhibit your art; seek mentorship and professional opinions; submit your work and production to salons and notices. And most importantly, enjoy the process!!
