Painting with assertive gestures and thick layers of paint, Márcia Falcão articulates connections between the body, pictorial matter, and social conflict. The artist constructs figurative poses and portraits or depicts the suburban landscape of Rio de Janeiro, where she was born, lives, and works. Her palette, dominated by earthy tones, emphasizes the texture of skin and captures the nuances of a broad chromatic spectrum. Aggression is always accompanied by resilience—whether in the figures she portrays or in her own mark-making techniques on the canvas, where sharp, incisive strokes are balanced with careful touches of paint. In various ongoing and evolving series, the artist addresses gender issues in relation to racial violence and the female body, challenging fixed identities and norms through a process-driven exploration of pictorial space.
Her solo exhibitions include Monuments of Flesh, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2024) Pai Contra Mãe, Instituto Inclusartiz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2023); Márcia Falcão, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, Brazil (2022); Márcia Falcão, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel | Carpintaria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2021) e Para Além do corpo: nudez semântica, Galeria Aymoré, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2020). Among the group shows the artist has participated in are 36ª Bienal de São Paulo – Nem Todo Viandante Anda Estradas: Da Humanidade com Prática, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2025); Nossa Vida Bantu, MAR – Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2025); FUNK: Um grito de ousadia e liberdade, MAR – Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2025); Corpo-casa: Diálogos entre Carolee Schneeman, Diego Bianchi e Márcia Falcão, Pivô, São Paulo, Brazil (2024); The Big Picture, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2023); Funk! Um grito de ousadia e liberdade, MAR – Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil (2023); A Parábola do Progresso, SESC Pompeia, São Paulo, Brazil (2022); MAR + Enciclopédia Negra, MAR — Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2022); Crônicas Cariocas, MAR – Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2021); Engraved into the Body, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, USA (2021) and Ainda fazemos as coisas em grupo, Centro Municipal de Artes Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2020).