Rubens Mano

Rubens Mano is a multimedia artist whose work explores the intersection of image, space, and urban landscapes. He graduated in Architecture and Urbanism from the Faculty of Santos in 1984 and began his artistic career with studies in photography. By the late 1980s, he deepened his research into urban landscapes, creating three-dimensional objects that engage with the environment and challenge the viewer’s perception.

Between 1992 and 1998, he co-organized Panoramas da Imagem alongside Eli Sudbrack, Everton Ballardin, and José Fujocka, curating exhibitions, workshops, and discussions on the role of photography in contemporary art. In 1993, he received the Photography Encouragement Award from the São Paulo State Department of Culture.

His work evolved into investigations of the relationship between image and space when placed within the urban environment. A significant example is his installation Detetor de Ausências (1994), presented at Arte Cidade II, where he projected beams of light over Viaduto do Chá, São Paulo, highlighting themes of memory and urban occupation.

In 2001, he won the Acquisition Award at the Panorama of Brazilian Art, hosted by the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (MAM/SP). The following year, he participated in the 25th São Paulo Biennial. Between 2002 and 2003, he developed Paisagens Incertas, a series of interventions and photographs supported by a grant from the Vitae Foundation.

In 2003, he earned his master’s degree in arts at the School of Communications and Arts of the University of São Paulo (ECA/USP). The next year, he took part in the Sydney Biennale with his project Visor. His interest in the relationship between art and urban spaces led to the creation of Visible in 2005, designed for inSite (Tijuana, Mexico / San Diego, USA).

In 2006, he was awarded a grant by the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, and in 2008, he participated in the Reversible Spaces project at the Cruz e Souza Museum in Florianópolis. That same year, he presented the work Suspended Contemplation at the Octagon Space of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo.

Sources:
Photo: https://www.elcomercio.com/tendencias/cultura/rubens-mano-se-adentra-cuenca.html