"Successful is the artist that elicits a response but, more importantly, a good artist evinces the purpose behind the art."  MarChrist © 1999 

Policaro Ribeiro, born 1966 in Mogi das Cruzes, is an artist whose work is fueled by his spirit and the process of self-examination. 

When dealing with art we inevitably ask the question, “What is the purpose of art?” We have tried to answer this question throughout our history and still there does not seem to be a satisfactory answer.  As historians present to us definitions of art and its purpose based on the art that has past, living artists present us with new angles on the question.  Perhaps this is the purpose of art.  Art is a phenomenon that though unique in each presentation it is redefined and remade through its enduring existence; as is each human life.  Policarpo's paintings remind us that, like each life, the complexity of the individual case persistently positions it outside of general classification.  Within this purposive artwork is contained a wholeness comprised of both the questioning and attempts to answer; mirrored to the art viewer through each singular artistic work.  Each work is a glimpse of the artist’s journey through self examination.  It touches us in that nebulous place within our own consciousness and reawakens in us the genesis of all questioning; the recognition that we can be genuinely touched by the expression of another’s spirit - across cultures and outside of any limits of time and space.  

The art of Policarpo Ribeiro are works of his spirit’s journey – as lived, examined and lived again.  Each work shares with us a memory of his examination, giving us the sense of his life.  He takes us down the pathway of his journey – through self-examination and discovery.  Self-taught, his work is based on experimentation and research into his creative capabilities.  His career began in the mid-80s and his artistic oeuvre is influenced by diverse schools, techniques and styles.  In the beginning mainly Picasso, Braque and Klee with his visual vocabulary later venturing into concepts of the abstract expressionist schools.  His work has made use of brilliant lights about deep darks; clean, plain and geometric, though sometimes colourful and metallic.  In his investigation of his methods he has used diverse materials and surfaces.  Although the line of his work may seem of a chaotic appearance, it is autobiographical; A body of work that is the history of his life as reinvented by its spirit.  Currently he has streamlined his visual language to increase continuity in the tone of the workmanship.  He now regularly uses white to cover a greater part of the surface and there is a return to cubist influences. 

He summarizes the pathways, feelings and associated research in the continuing search for improvement of his technique with “The technique is my spirit”.

Tonietta A. Walters, 2006