Rubem Valentim was a key figure in the art renewal movement in Bahia during the mid-20th century. Born and raised in Salvador, the city with the largest Black population outside the African continent, Valentim was immersed in the mystic symbolism of African religious traditions in Brazil, particularly Candomblé and Umbanda, which play a central role in his artistic universe. 

The ritual instruments, physical structures of the terreiros (ceremonial houses), and the symbolism of the deities are depicted in his work as signs—stylized images that result from a refined aestheticization of these figures. Two defining characteristics of his art are the symbolic use of colors associated with the orishas and the recurring geometric shapes, including rectangles, circles, triangles, and trapezoids. These elements are meticulously arranged in his paintings, prints, reliefs, and sculptures. Valentim transcends a simple formalist approach to religious imagery, maintaining a strong connection to its origins and reinforcing the meanings tied to these symbols—such as protection, sexuality, birth, death, rebirth, and the natural cycle of life. 

Valentim lived in Europe between 1963 and 1966 after receiving a travel award for his participation in the 11th Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna. His first solo exhibition outside Brazil – the first international solo show by a Black Brazilian artist – took place in 1965 at the headquarters of the Brazilian Embassy in Italy, the Palazzo Pamphilj, where his work has been recently exhibited in the solo show Rubem Valentim: A Riscadura Brasileira [The Brazilian Trace], (2022). In the same year, Almeida & Dale presented Ilê Funfun: uma homenagem ao centenário de Rubem Valentim [Ilê Funfun: A Homage to the Centenary of Ruben Valentim], which later traveled to Museu Nacional da República, in Brasília; and MAM Bahia, in Salvador, Brazil (2022). Recent solo shows of his work have been held in institutions such as the MAM Rio (2026); Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, USA (2024); MASP (2019) and Pinacoteca de São Paulo (2001).  

Valentim took part in major collective exhibitions, such as Venice Biennale (1962 and 2024); several editions of the Bienal de São Paulo (1955, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1996 e 2023); and the First World Festival of Black Arts in Dakar, Senegal (1966). His work is part of major institutional collections in Brazil and abroad, such as Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araújo, Brazil; Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Brazil; MAM Bahia, Brazil; MAM São Paulo, Brazil; MASP, Brazil; >Centre Pompidou, France; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, UAE; MoMA, USA; Galeria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna di Roma, Italy; and others.