The work of Emmanuel Nassar is primarily grounded in painting and in the combination of different media, including canvas, wood, glass, and metal plates. The artist appropriates signs and techniques from popular and vernacular culture alongside movements in contemporary art, notably Pop Art and Concrete Art. With a subtle sense of irony, his work evokes notions of industrial precariousness while simultaneously celebrating local ingenuity and critiquing its sociopolitical context.

Nassar presented the retrospective exhibitions Meu tema sou eu, Centro Cultural Bienal das Amazônias, Belém, Brazil (2026); Lataria Espacial, at the Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2022); EN: 81–18, at Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo, Brazil (2018); and A Poesia da Gambiarra, at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, Brazil (2003).

He has also held numerous solo exhibitions at venues including Casa Fiat de Cultura, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2026); Centro Cultural Bienal das Amazônias, Belém, Brazil (2026); Almeida & Dale, São Paulo, Brazil (2025); MAM São Paulo, Brazil (2024 and 1998); Museu Castro Maya, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2013); Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2012); Centro Universitário Maria Antônia, São Paulo, Brazil (2009); and Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil (2003).

Emmanuel Nassar represented Brazil at the 45th Venice Biennale (1993) and participated in the 20th and 24th Bienal de São Paulo (1989 and 1998), as well as in Panorama da Arte Atual Brasileira (1980, 1989, and 1993), at MAM São Paulo, Brazil.

Other notable group exhibitions include Complexo Brasil, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal (2025); the 1st Bienal das Amazônias, Belém, Brazil (2023); Brazilian Histories, MASP, São Paulo, Brazil (2022); Potência e Adversidade, Pavilhão Branco and Pavilhão Preto, Campo Grande, Lisbon, Portugal (2017); the 8th Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2011); the 6th Bienal Internacional de Estandartes, Tijuana, Mexico (2010); Contemporary Brazilian Photography, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany (2006); Brasil +500: Mostra do Redescobrimento, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (2000); the 6th Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador (1998); U-ABC, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and the 3rd Bienal de La Habana, Cuba (1989).

His works are held in institutional collections including the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York, USA, and Caracas, Venezuela; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Brazil; Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil; and the Essex Collection of Art from Latin America, UK.