Arthur Bispo do Rosario, a former Marine Corps signalman, boxer, tram cleaner and domestic worker in Rio de Janeiro, had no interest in defining his extensive activities as art.
In 1964, he landed back at Juliano Moreira where he remained until his death in 1989 at age 80, working compulsively to prepare for Judgment Day.
Bispo and his work gradually became known in Brazil, earning attention from art critics, curators and documentary filmmakers in the 1980s.
Wider fame began when he was one of two artists whose work represented Brazil at the 1995 Venice Biennale (the other was Nuno Ramos).
Bispo’s efforts were then seen in important surveys like the 2013 Venice Biennale, and a 2003 retrospective in Paris.