Jarbas Lopes (Nova Iguaçu, Brazil, 1964) maintains a wide-ranging practice that encompasses painting, sculpture, drawing, artist books, installations, and performance. He graduated in Sculpture from the School of Fine Arts at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and his work frequently invites active public participation, emphasizing handmade processes, artisanal thinking, and collaborative methods.
His artistic output is marked by sensorial and utopian projects that often operate on the fringes of market dynamics and propose alternative forms of coexistence and social organization. In these experiences, the audience is invited to touch, hold, move, and interact with the works, becoming an active participant in the artistic process. Throughout his career, Lopes has explored the intersections between art and life, creating works that suggest symbolic exchanges, community engagement, and the invention of new ways of inhabiting the world.
Notable solo exhibitions include: poeta-poeta, Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro (2024); Jarbas Lopes: eixos, Pinacoteca de São Paulo (2023); Lua/Luta, A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro (2023); Gira, Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro (2022); XXXY, A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro (2017); Circulovisão, Luisa Strina, São Paulo (2017); e a u, CRAC Alsace, Altkirch, France (2017); Elastica, Galeria Andrea Baginski, Lisbon, Portugal (2015); A Line, Jack Tilton Gallery, New York (2013); Park Central, Tilton Gallery, New York (2010); and Cicloviaérea, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile (2010).
Selected group exhibitions include: Forrobodó, A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro (2023); Bum bum praticumbum, A Gentil Carioca, São Paulo (2021); Samba in the Dark, Anton Kern, New York (2020); O Que não É Floresta É Preso Político, Galeria Reocupa, São Paulo (2019); A Burrice dos Homens, Galeria Bergamin & Gomide, São Paulo (2019); Via Aérea, Sesc Belenzinho, São Paulo (2018); BOA SORTE com os vossos esforços naturais..., Fórum Eugénio de Almeida, Évora, Portugal (2017); Homo Ludens, Luisa Strina, São Paulo (2016); A Cor do Brasil, Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR) (2016); Brazil, Beleza?!, Museum Beelden aan Zee, The Hague, Netherlands (2016); 32nd Panorama of Brazilian Art, Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo (2011); and Law of the Jungle, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York (2010).
He has received several awards, including the Marcantonio Vilaça Prize (2010); Corocoro, Brazil (2008); a fellowship from the Miami Art Central Debuts Program, Miami, USA (2005); Acquisition Prize at the XVI National Salon of Visual Arts – Funarte, Rio de Janeiro (1998); First Prize at the 25th Belo Horizonte Art Salon, Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte (1997); First Prize from the Brazilian Art Association, São Paulo (1997); and Acquisition Prize at the XXV National Art Salon of Belo Horizonte (1997).