Biography

My projects almost always begin with a question. It is a seed placed in a territory I have yet to discover. What grows from it never corresponds exactly to what I first imagined. Over the years, each investigation develops its own internal logic, becoming a balance between my intentions and the path the project gradually reveals.

I do not separate my artistic practice from the way I seek to understand my own existence. Throughout each investigation, I discover that the questions giving rise to the work inevitably transform, however subtly, who I am.

I am interested in bringing scientific research and the creative process closer together, understanding both as complementary ways of observing and making sense of the world.

Photography and video are the primary media through which this research takes form. I frequently collaborate with researchers and scientific institutions as part of my working process, expanding the possibilities of observation and creating experiences that challenge the way we relate to the world around us.

Rather than seeking answers, I aim to create immersive experiences where curiosity prevails over certainty, and where some questions inevitably remain open.

Márcio Vilela (b. 1978, Recife, Brazil) lives and works in Lisbon.

He holds a degree in Photography from the Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Tomar and a Master’s from the European Master of Fine Art Photography at IED Madrid.

His research is concerned with landscape studies and the relationship between art and science, frequently involving collaborations with research institutions in astrophysics, aerospace engineering, and hydrography.

In 2008 he was one of seven artists selected for the Anteciparte prize. In 2010 he undertook a two-year artistic residency at Carpe Diem Arte e Pesquisa, which resulted in the solo exhibition Mono (2012). In 2012 he took part in an artistic residency in the Azores, at the invitation of Galeria Fonseca Macedo, which resulted in the exhibition Azores (2014).

In 2015 he joined the Pico do Refúgio Creative Residencies, in the Azores, developing the research foundations for the series Satellites, presented at MNAC — Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado in 2019.

In 2021 he produced Previsão de Deriva (Drift Forecast), a project developed in collaboration with the Portuguese Navy, presented at Galeria Foco (Lisbon, 2023) and at Arquipélago — Centro de Artes Contemporâneas (Azores, 2026). That same year he produced the series Superflora in the forests of northeastern Brazil, first shown at Galeria Foco in January 2022 and at the PhotoEspaña festival in 2026.

In 2026 he presents Estudo Cromático para o Azul (Chromatic Study for Blue) at BienalSur, at MAR — Museo Provincial de Arte Contemporáneo, in Mar del Plata.

His work is held in the Berardo Collection, the António Cachola Collection, the Museu Nacional de Brasília, the Museu de Arte Moderna Aloísio Magalhães, MNAC — Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado, MACAM — Museu de Arte Contemporânea Armando Martins, and in numerous private collections.