Born and raised in Alto Alegre do Pindaré (MA), the artist soon developed a talent for drawing. Having access to materials, however, was not part of his reality when he was a child, whose parents worked breaking babassu coconuts to support the family. Only later did he get his first brushes and gouache paint as a gift from the poet Altemar Lima, who recognized and encouraged the boy’s natural talent. When the time came for him to study and become a professional artist, he took a different path, without, however, abandoning art as a parallel activity. Having majored in agricultural engineering and graduated in pedagogy, Reginaldo today reconciles his job as a public servant with his brushes. Local culture and the biodiversity in his region are frequent motifs in his paintings.

In his panel Facínora (Thug) shown here, he criticizes man’s perverse behavior toward the life and culture of the Indians, silting the Pindaré River, accelerating the extinction of capybaras and depleting fish population.