MÁRIO BELÉM
"Amor de Madre"
— BIO
- BORN
- 1977
- ORIGIN
- PORTUGAL
- MEDIUM
- PAINTING ON WOOD
- SCENE
- PORTUGUESE URBAN ART
- STATUS
- ON VIEW
Mário Belém (1977) worked as a digital illustrator and graphic designer for several years, yet the desire to get his hands dirty with paint again and focus on his artwork proved stronger.
Today he works with equal skill on both the small-scale pieces he creates in the studio and on the large-scale murals that have earned him a leading role in the burgeoning Portuguese urban art scene. Over the last few years he has been solidifying a distinctively personal language — colourful and playful — where he frequently juxtaposes images and words, composing visual narratives of a magical nature that are rooted in a balance between the familiar and the unusual and that explore various subjects inherent to communication, popular culture and the present human condition. Working mainly the medium of painting on wood in compositions of a sculptural nature, he has been presenting his oeuvre in both the public space and in solo and group exhibitions.
— WORKS ON VIEW / 03
LOTUS · BELÉM / 01
Amor de Madre
Aerosol & acrylic on wood / 102 × 123 × 24 cm / 2025
Heart-shaped altarpiece — flaming eye, pill bottles, mortar and pestle. Devotion meets pharmacy.
LOTUS · BELÉM / 02
La Misma Cantinela
Aerosol & acrylic on wood / 2025
A wooden boombox spilling cassette tapes — a memory machine for a generation that danced through it.
LOTUS · BELÉM / 03
Trust Me, You'll Thank Me Later
Aerosol & acrylic on wood / 2025
Two bleach bottles fused into a heart — sacred kitsch and Mexican folk altarpiece in one breath.
— VISIT
