Marcos Siqueira b. 1989, Betim, Brazil; lives and works in Serra do Cipó

Marcos Siqueira’s work is rooted in his intimacy with the botanical diversity of the Cerrado grasslands of eastern Brazil and an enduring connection to the soil of Minas Gerais, which serves as the inseparable medium and muse to his paintings. It is here, along the paths of the terrain, that the artist respectfully forages all the pigments used in his practice directly from his surroundings. Through a deep familiarity with the landscape’s “minute intricacies” – strengthened through his real-world engagements to protect wildlands from ecological devastation – the self-taught artist conjoins experience and observation, applying ochre, red, and brown tones to wood surfaces to share his knowledge of hidden worlds.

Withdrawn in the vastness of the Cerrado’s landscapes, Siqueira’s figures often appear in states of solitude, alone before nature. When the artist casts the resulting environments, we are called into his figures’ dreamlike “pondering of the world.” Yet Siqueira’s world joyously interacts with the collective spirit intersecting popular festivities, the vibrant local Quilombola community, and Candombe dance, drumming, and chanting.

Siqueira’s distilled compositions situate and intensify; his protagonists engage in acts of ascent, balance, celebration, and reflection. Rejecting historical impulses to dominate nature, embodying symbiotic engagements, the contemplative pace and tempo instilled in his works reflect “acts of delicacy” that invite us to rethink how we engage with our surroundings, encouraging lived relationships of interdependence rather than control. The painter’s works articulate a visual language in awe of the unknowable that simultaneously longs for renewed coexistence, offering alternative ways of thinking and seeing.
 

Marcos Siqueira (b. 1989, Betim, Brazil) lives and works in Serra do Cipó.

Siqueira’s works have been featured in solo exhibitions including Matutar, Mendes Wood DM, New York (2024); Horizonte, Galeria Periscópio/Mitre Galeria, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2022). He has participated in the following group exhibitions: Finca pé: Estórias da Terra, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro (2025); Ritos de água, fios de fé, Mitre Galeria, São Paulo (2025); Ensaio Sobre a Terra, Simões de Assis, São Paulo (2024); Six Artists, Mendes Wood DM, New York (2023); DOS BRASIS – Arte e pensamento negro, SESC Belenzinho, São Paulo (2023); maa, Mitre Galeria, Belo Horizonte (2023); Extrañar: verbo transitivo direto, Galeria Periscópio/Mitre Galeria, Belo Horizonte (2022); and Corpocontinente, Galeria Periscópio/Mitre Galeria, Belo Horizonte (2022).