Today we’d like to introduce you to Maurilio Moreira Fondevila.
Hi Maurilio, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
As a visual artist, my journey has been a constant exploration of the intersection between human emotion and visual expression. I was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 1965 and completed Primary, Secondary School and two years of Law College. I moved to the USA in 2014, Worcester, Massachusetts, and after four years I moved to my dream destination, Los Angeles, California.
I also find inspiration in music and musical instruments, whose shapes and “sounds” are reflected in many of my artwork. The following are some cities where I have exhibited my work:
• 1987 – “La Grepia Galeria”, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
• 1997 – Returned to “La Grepia Galeria”, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
• 2016 – US Memorial Hospital, gallery auction, Worcester, MA, USA.
• 2019 – Irvine Cultural Space, Irvine, CA, USA.
• 2020 – “Gracie Art Galleries”, Laguna Beach, CA, USA.
• 2023 – Hope Street Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• 2024 – “Divas” Exhibition, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
• 2025 – Biennial Ontario Museum of Art Exhibition, Ontario, CA, USA
• 2025 – Art Scene West, San Diego, California, USA
• 2025 – Laguna Art A-Afair, Laguna Beach, CA, USA
• 2025 – d’Art Center, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
My art expressions have always included reflections of musical instruments, flora and fauna of my native country Brazil, and now I am adding poetry: MUSIC + ART + POETRY:
• 2025 – Brazil Consulate General, Beverly Hills, CA. Launch of “Cores da Alma” my first book of poetry. It includes more than 120 poems with 16 of them inspired by my paintings.
And the journey will continue!!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My path was never smooth — it was a canvas of storms and light.
I began in my native Brazil. There, I learned that colors could speak — louder than words, deeper than silence. I painted not only what I saw, but what I felt.
Then came the ocean — vast, unpredictable, and filled with longing. I crossed it carrying only my brushes, my dreams, and the rhythm of my homeland in my heart. Massachusetts was cold in ways I didn’t yet understand. I found that color still understood me. My paintings became my language — my bridge between worlds.
When I finally reached Los Angeles, I had already learned that art is not about perfection — it’s about persistence. Here, under another kind of sun, I began to write poetry. The words came slowly, like paint dripping down a blank canvas, and soon I realized that I was painting again — only this time, with language.
My art became a dialogue between two worlds: the one that raised me and the one that tested me. Through painting and poetry, I proved not what I could say — but what I could feel.
I am still walking this not-so-smooth path. My journey, like my art, is made of color, courage, and the quiet hope that what was born in Brazil can speak to the world…..and my journey continues!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My art lives where brushstrokes meet verses — where colors breathe and words dance.
Painting and poetry are not two separate paths for me, what begins on canvas often continues on paper — one dream completing the other.
My paintings are born from Brazil — from its people, its rhythm, its infinite spectrum of colors. I paint not only what I see, but what I remember — the textures of my land, the faces that time didn’t erase, and the beauty that insists on surviving even in struggle.
My poetry, in turn, is a mirror of the unseen. Often, a poem begins where a painting ends: the moment when the last color dries and emotion still seeks a name.
Together, they speak of hope, of music, of life in all its hues. My work does not follow rules or formulas; it follows feeling. It moves between the vibrant chaos of color and the quiet truth of words. It is both sound and silence — rhythm and reflection.
I paint what I feel. I write what I see.
And somewhere between the two, I find myself — whole, human, and forever in search of light.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
The quality that defines my success is authenticity — the courage to express what I feel, whether through the movement of a brush or the rhythm of a poem.
Each stroke, each word, is a reflection of who I am and where I’ve been. My art is my voice — translating emotions into colors, transforming experiences into verses. Through painting and poetry, I reveal myself — not to impress, but to connect, to touch, and to remind others that beauty is born from truth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://FONDEVILAARTGALLERIES.COM
- Instagram: ART.MAURILIO
