Marcello Mercado

Serie M3

pencil and acrylic on paper,

32cm x 22cm, 12,59in x 8,66in,

2025

 

 

 

In the selected drawings by Marcello Mercado, a systematic exploration of drawing as both event and residue unfolds. Neither illustrating nor narrating, these works reveal the act of drawing as a dynamic tension between presence and disappearance. They open up a space in which technique is not merely a means to an end, but a field of inquiry in its own right – subtly invoking both historical graphic traditions and the speculative urgencies of contemporary aesthetics.

Each drawing becomes a microcosm of intention and chance, of containment and dispersal. The pencil oscillates between rhythmic linearity and fragmented interference. Lines intersect with seemingly spontaneous gestures that, upon closer inspection, reveal a calculated dissonance. This duality – order under chaos – dialogues with the visual codes of algorithmic aesthetics.

Works such as «Untitled 2022» and «Untitled 2010» showcase Mercado’s technical range: the juxtaposition of fine, almost calligraphic lines with broad acrylic overlays suggests a choreography between control and surrender. These layered gestures create zones of visual conflict where the image never fully stabilizes – it flickers, resisting completion. This notion of instability echoes Catherine de Zegher’s assertion of the line as an ephemeral trace of thought, a residue of bodily intention.

Formally, the drawings explore compositional strategies reminiscent of both architectural sketching and neurographic mapping. Shapes are suggested, not confirmed. «Series M3, for example, operates on a plane of ambiguity where figuration and abstraction collide. Suggestions of organic form emerge, only to be disrupted by erratic interventions.

The color palette is often limited, favoring monochrome or duotone schemes with sudden bursts of pigment. This limitation heightens the material sensitivity of each mark. In works such as «M3-17,» economy of means becomes a strength: the few lines present are charged with a kinetic energy that suggests movement beyond the page. Conversely, the density of drawings such as «Mapping 2011» speaks to an almost sculptural approach to drawing – layers upon layers form a textured visual field that resonates with the complexity of Baroque composition.

Thematically, the drawings oscillate between diagram and dream. They resist traditional narrative, opting instead for a poetic language of signs and disruptions. Mercado’s use of layering – both literal and conceptual – creates depth not only in space but also in time. Each drawing appears as a palimpsest, containing ghosts of previous gestures, corrections, and erasures. This processual visibility invites comparison with the tradition of analytical drawing, where the line is always in negotiation with itself.

Materially, the combination of graphite, ink and acrylic is used with restraint but precision. Acrylic is not used for painterly effect, but to obscure or accentuate – it behaves as an active participant in the graphic discourse. In some cases it becomes a veil, in others a break. This interplay between transparency and opacity, between line and surface.

Stylistically, the drawings explore both minimalism and excess. «Series M3-12 and Series M3-14, for example, construct complex arrangements out of repetition and noise. The use of repeated linear motifs mimics both digital glitches and archaic patterns, collapsing temporalities into a single gesture. Such works resonate with Rosa Lleó’s notion of the artwork as an archaeological fragment of the present–layered, coded, in motion.

From a curatorial perspective, these works demand to be read as a continuum: not as a collection of discrete objects, but as a living system of variation. Mercado’s practice, as articulated in this body of work, is deeply engaged with contemporary concerns about cognition, representation, and the failures of language. But it also remains rooted in the tangible: in paper, in mark, in breath. The drawings are acts of resistance against the flattening of perception, against the compression of meaning.

As Manuel Segade might suggest, these drawings are bodies in and of themselves – porous, layered, vulnerable. They invite us not only to look, but to follow, to get lost in their folds. They enact what José Luis Barrios describes as a decolonial practice of the image: denying clarity, embracing multiplicity.

In this sense, Marcello Mercado’s work does not merely update the language of drawing – it reorients it. By attending to the minute, the fragile, the uncertain, he opens a space for new forms of attention and engagement. These drawings are not illustrations of thought, but its sediment. They are not forms but thresholds. They are not finished – they are arriving.

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 23,6in x 31,4in

2022

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 01

pencil and acrylic on paper,

42cm x 59,4cm, 16,5in x 23,4in

2010

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 02

pencil and acrylic on paper,

42cm x 59,4cm, 16,5in x 23,4in

2010

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 01

watercolour on paper,

29,7cm x 42cm  11,6in x 16,5in

2012

 

 

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie M3

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2025

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 23,6in x 31,4in

2022

 

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie M3

pencil and acrylic on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2025

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie M3

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2025

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie M3

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2025

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil and acrylic on paper,

42cm x 59,4cm, 16,5in x 23,4in

2010

 

 

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie M3

pencil and acrylic on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2025

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie M3

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2025

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie M3

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2025

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 01

pencil on paper,

42cm x 59,4cm, 16,5in x 23,4in

2011

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 02

pencil on paper,

42cm x 59,4cm, 16,5in x 23,4in

2011

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 01

pencil on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 23,6in x 31,4in

2022

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 02

pencil on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 23,6in x 31,4in

2022

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 03

pencil on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 23,6in x 31,4in

2022

 

 

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie M3 – 12

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2025

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie M3

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2025

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie M3 – 14

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2025

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Bestiary for the minds of the 21st Century

acrylic, enamel and pencil on tracing paper,

110cm x 50cm, 43.3in x 19,6in,

2015

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Selfportrait 1998

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

1998

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

Coloured pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2005

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 01

pencil on black paper,

80cm x 60cm, 31.4in x 23.6in,

2015

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 02

pencil on black paper,

80cm x 60cm, 31.4in x 23.6in,

2015

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 03

pencil on black paper,

60cm x 80cm, 23.6in x 31.4in

2015

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil on canvas,

60cm x 80cm, 23.6in x 31.4in

2018

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

Coloured pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2015

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

Coloured pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2015

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

Coloured pencil and watercolour on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2005

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Marina

pencil and oil on paper,

32cm x 22cm, 12,59in x 8,66in

2006

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

Coloured pencil and watercolour on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2003

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in,

2021

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Mapping

acrylic and pencil on paper,

80cm x 60cm, 31.4in x 23.6in,

2011

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Mapping

acrylic and pencil on paper,

80cm x 60cm, 31.4in x 23.6in,

2011

 

Marcello Mercado

Mapping

acrylic and pencil on paper,

80cm x 60cm, 31.4in x 23.6in,

2011

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

acrylic on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 3 23.6in x 31.4in

2011

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 3.6in x 31.4in

2017

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

coloured pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in, each

2015

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

coloured pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in, each

2015

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil on paper,

20cm x 30cm, 7.8in x 11.8in

2015

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled 02

watercolour on paper,

29,7cm x 42cm  11,6in x 16,5in

2012

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 3.6in x 31.4in

2015

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie L1

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in, each

2021

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 23.6in x 31.4in

2011

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 23.6in x 31.4in

2021

 

Marcello Mercado

Untitled

pencil on paper,

60cm x 80cm, 23.6in x 31.4in

2005

 

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Serie A1

pencil on tracing paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in, each

2011

 

 

Marcello Mercado

Ubtitled

pencil on paper,

22cm x 32cm, 8,66in x 12,59in, each

2014