From inside São Paulo to the trendy hills of Lisbon, Gezo Marques is the owner of the coolest workshop / shop in the capital
Those passing by number 69 of Rua Luz Soriano, in the bohemian Bairro Alto, in the heart of Lisbon, soon diverted attention towards the interior, where the sculpture of an immense life-size horse, made entirely of pieces of wood, like this like pigs with strings of pearls in multiple rounds or a large cow on skates. This is the gallery of Gezo Marques, from Piracicaba, who has lived in the historic center of Lisbon for 22 years.
A few times a week, the publicist dedicates himself to producing campaigns for big brands such as McDonald’s, Mercedes, Gallo olive oils and Pingo Doce (Portugal’s largest supermarket chain). That’s when he glorifies his position as creative director at one of the largest agencies in the city. But it is on free days, on weekends and at night, that he realizes it, literally putting his hands in the dough. In these moments the publicist leaves the scene and enters the artist who, as soon as he started putting his pieces on the street, ended up on the pages of publications such as the English Monocle and Wallpaper and the international versions of Elle Decoration and TO .
Gezo arrived in Portugal as an art director while answering a job advertisement posted in a newspaper. In the suitcase, some clothes, a pressure cooker and a pencil case. “I found a completely different Lisbon, with only three TV channels and a little careless,” he recalls. But the passion was immediate. The initial idea was to stay for a year, but the day of departure was getting further and further away.
At the beginning Gezo was divided between successful work and artistic creations performed at home. Until one day he is no longer under the same roof as your saws, welders, paint cans and sprays. Today the Marquis workshop, which he shares with Aparício Gonçalves, occupies three huge rooms in the Bairro Alto, with spaces well divided between the studio, the exhibition hall and the shop, where he also curates works by other artists residing in Portugal. There are furniture, objects, illustrations, paintings, sculptures and his famous reliquaries, at prices ranging from € 1.50 to € 15,000.
Gezo has already exhibited at one of the largest decoration fairs in the world, Maison et Objet, in Paris, and now has pieces spread all over the world, from the United Arab Emirates to Indonesia, from Israel to Brazil. In Lisbon, his works decorate from restaurants to emblematic hotels, such as the new 1908 Lisboa Hotel, which has already won the award for best design hotel in Europe at the World Travel Awards, the Jardim da Lapa Boutique Hotel and even the most recent Chef José Avillez’s restaurant, totally vegetarian, is called Encanto. Your biggest challenge? Reconciling the tendency to spend every minute immersed in the study with the wonders of living in a city in a strategic position, a few hours flight from many European destinations and with the sea just around the corner. “Everything here is very tempting,” says Gezo. And she justifies it, joking: “I’m a red-necked, people!”
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Source: Terra
Benjamin Smith is a fashion journalist and author at Gossipify, known for his coverage of the latest fashion trends and industry insights. He writes about clothing, shoes, accessories, and runway shows, providing in-depth analysis and unique perspectives. He’s respected for his ability to spot emerging designers and trends, and for providing practical fashion advice to readers.
