“While working in advertising agencies, I began drawing inspiration from the industry itself. My paintings started to reflect imagery from magazine covers, advertisements, films, fashion, and the broader visual culture around me. It was also during this time that I discovered Pop Art — and completely fell in love with it.”
Mauricio Porto is a Brazilian contemporary artist based in New York.
With a background in advertising and creative direction, his work draws from fashion and media, with tropical elements connected to his roots.
His practice is centered on portraiture and the study of personality, translating cultural imagery into an uplifting visual language — an invitation to escape into a world of color, beauty, and joie de vivre.
In the late 1990s, Porto moved to New York to study design at Parsons, immersing himself in the city’s dynamic cultural landscape. Influenced by American Pop Art and his Brazilian roots, his work developed into a distinctive visual language defined by color, graphic clarity, and expressive presence. His paintings revisit familiar imagery, transforming it into contemporary portraits that feel both personal and universal.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 • Untitled • Westhampton Public Library • Westhampton Beach • New York, USA
2019 • Untitled • Vila Ventura Ecoresort • Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2017 • Happiness • Galeria DaVera • Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2016 • Carmen Miranda • Casa de Cultura Mario Quintana • Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2012 • Madonna Like a Painting • Galeria Paulo Capelari • Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2011 • Horses • Expointer • Esteio, RS, Brazil
2010 • What The Eyes Can See • Espaço Cultural TRT • Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2009 • Pop Art • Galeria Paulo Capellari • Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2005 • Summertime • Garagem de Arte Galeria • Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2001 • Faith – Unimed Salão – Varginha, MG, Brazil
2000 • Odd Repetitions • Arte & Fato Galeria • Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2000 • Brazil 500 Years of Colors • Galeria Central • Elói Mendes, MG, Brazil
1999 • Untitled • Caffé del’Artista • New York, NY, USA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 • Evolving Expressions • Sfumato Art Gallery – Online Exhibition
2024 • Beyond the Colors • Sfumato Art Gallery – Online Exhibition
2022 • Chelsea Metaverse Masters • Amsterdam Whitney Gallery • New York, NY, USA
2004 • Summer Salon • Ward-Nasse Gallery • New York, NY, USA
2003-4 • Untitled • Barbara-Ann Levy • Fire Island, NY, USA
2001 • Connections To The Real • Agora Gallery / Soho • New York, NY, USA
1999 • Summer Salon • Ward-Nasse Gallery • New York, NY, USA
1998 • Artists from Minas – Assembléia Legislativa de Minas Gerais • Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
1986 • Art Students of Maria Augusta Procópio • Elói Mendes, Brazil
ART FAIRS
2026 • Art Palm Beach – FL, USA
2025 • Hamptons ArtFair – NY, USA
2024 • ArtExpoNewYork – NY, USA
2024 • Art Capital – Salón des Independánts, Paris, FR
2021 • ArtExpoNewYork, New York, NY, USA – Virtual Exhibition
2018-19 • Elite Design Show, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil